By Patrick Lynn

According to the Wisconsin Dept. of Public Instruction, more public school students than ever are living in poverty.

The details come within a new report released this week by the DPI, which indicates 43.3 percent of students are eligible for free or reduced lunch, an increase of nearly 14 percent statewide. In Stevens Point, that number has seen a slight increase of .1 percent over the past school year.

The report does not indicate the increased cost of lunches, or how income requirements have changed commiserate with being qualified for free or reduced lunches.

Families are eligible for the program if they meet certain requirements, which for a free lunch include meeting income guidelines of 130 percent of the federal poverty level, currently $2,552 a month for a family of four.

“It’s tough for kids to concentrate on learning when they are hungry,” said State Superintendent Tony Evers in a statement. “The links between poverty, hunger, and lower academic achievement are well established. The National School Lunch and School Breakfast programs are one way to help students whose families struggle.”

Evers said he would address the new data by being an “advocate for school finance changes” in his 2015-17 budget.

The National School Lunch Act, which authorized the National School Lunch Program, was signed into law on June 4, 1946. Though school food service began long before this time, the legislation came in response to
claims that many American men had been rejected for World War II military service because of diet-related health problems. The program was established as “a measure of national security.”