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From the Department of Public Instruction
State Superintendent Elizabeth Burmaster announced that the 2006-07 school year saw the largest growth in state history in the number of school breakfasts served to students.
"Wisconsin schools served nearly 4 million more breakfasts in 2006-07 than in the 2005-06 academic year – the biggest increase on record," Burmaster said. "We have now seen two consecutive years of 25% growth in breakfasts served, which is also unprecedented. This is excellent news, because a hungry child can't learn. School breakfast programs are helping end hunger in the classroom, so students can concentrate on their classes."
While growth in school breakfasts was seen throughout the state, about half of the 3.9 million additional breakfasts were served in Milwaukee. The school district instituted a universal free breakfast program in some of its schools this year. A universal free breakfast program offers food to any student, regardless of economic status.
"To help support the phenomenal growth in school breakfast in Wisconsin, I have requested increased funding in my 2007-09 budget," Burmaster said. "By ensuring that no child has to go hungry to class, we will help our students improve their achievement and help close the achievement gap between economically disadvantaged students and their peers. There are also health benefits: school breakfast programs help children learn more healthful eating habits, which is crucial in the fight against childhood obesity."
In the 2000-01 legislative session, the state began allocating $1.1 million each year to partially reimburse school districts for the costs of breakfast programs. For the first four years of the law, schools received a 10-cent reimbursement per breakfast served. Thereafter, because of the growth of school breakfast in Wisconsin, the reimbursement has been pro-rated to a lesser amount. Burmaster has asked legislators to raise the allocation to $2.5 million in 2007-08 and $2.9 million in 2008-09, and to set a 15-cent-per-breakfast reimbursement target. So far, the governor and both houses of the state Legislature have approved these increases, though the budget is not yet finalized.
Some factors which may have contributed to the recent rise in breakfasts served include growing flexibility and creativity in the ways schools make food available to students at breakfast time, public opinion seemingly exhibiting more acceptance of the idea of breakfast served at school instead of home, and $4 million in federal school breakfast startup money secured by Senator Herb Kohl and distributed between 2001 and 2006.
Posted October 17, 2007