A new state report shows for the eighth year in a row, an increasing number of kids qualify for free-or-reduced school lunches.
Although this comes in a time local budgets are strapped, a Milwaukee-based hunger advocate says school meal programs are federally funded. Sherri Tussler, executive director of Hunger Task Force, says the federal government “consistently” reimburses for the cost of the meals.
Tussler says these programs are vital: “We want our kids to be healthy; we them to learn; we want them to be able to compete in the workforce as adults and it all starts with good nutrition.”
The DPI report says for the current school year 42.5 percent of students qualify for meals at a reduced cost, an increase of 2.5 percent from last year.
