Twenty-two thousand more Alabama children are getting free or reduced-price meals at school this year.

That's an increase of 5.6 percent over last year and another indication that more families have fallen on hard financial times.

"There's no question that people losing their jobs in a bad economy is a factor for us," said Marti Rizzuto, superintendent for Tarrant City Schools.

Tarrant already had the highest participation rate among school systems in Jefferson and Shelby counties last year, with 88 percent of stu­dents receiving free or reduced-price meals. This year, it's up to 91 percent.

"Hard economic times make life in a poverty community even more difficult than it usually is," Rizzuto said.

Statewide, about 56 percent of students, more than 411,000 children, are receiving free or reduced-price meals this year, ac­cording to data from the Alabama Depart­ment of Education. That's up from 53 per­cent last year and 51 percent in each of the two prior years.

Although participation rates vary widely among the 13 school systems in Jefferson and Shelby counties, they jumped this year in almost all.