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Philadelphia Lawmaker Pushes Bill To Ban 'Lunch Shaming'

HARRISBURG, Pa. (CBS) -- A state lawmaker from Philadelphia is calling for passage of a bill that would ban "lunch shaming" in Pennsylvania schools.

"We should be ashamed that we have lunch shaming," said Philadelphia House Democrat Donna Bullock.

Bullock, at a state Capitol press conference, introduced Stacy Koltiska, who made national news when she quit her cafeteria worker job because of a lunch shaming policy in the Canon-McMillan School District in Washington County. She described having to take a hot lunch away from a first-grader because his parents were behind in payments, giving the boy a cheese sandwich instead.

"His eyes welled up with tears 'because… and that's the other thing, they're so joyful at that age, like they're excited about the school lunch," Koltiska said. "And he was like, 'ooh, chicken nuggets!' And literally I had to take the nuggets. And I looked at my boss like, 'are you going to make me do this?'"

Backers of legislation to ban shaming children say is not the way to get parents to pay for lunch.

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