About a dozen children sat around a cafeteria table outside Newton Bateman Elementary School in the Irving Park neighborhood Monday, talking and giggling as they ate their oranges and sandwiches. Most came directly from Bateman’s FORGE summer camp, a three-week program offering art, theater, fitness, robotics and chess activities. This was the first day of Chicago Public Schools’ free summer lunch program, offering midday meals to local children at no cost.
Through the district’s “LunchStop” program...