Traditionally, American schools were locally funded, but that began to change during the Franklin D. Roosevelt presidency. Following World War II the U.S. government sold approximately 106,000 acres of land and 2,500 buildings at an average cost of less than 3 1/2 percent of the fair value of the property to establish 5,500 schools and universities. Surplus military equipment, including such windfalls as 27,000 surplus typewriters, was also given to schools.
In 1940 the federal government provided more than $12 million in meals for elementary and secondary school students; this grew to some $92 million in 1949. There were abuses in this program, such as price gouging and kickbacks, but the program was defended by former president Herbert Hoover, who coordinated the European Food Program after World War II and recognized the correlation between nutrition and education.
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