Watch: ICE detentions increased by 75% in 2025.

In less than two weeks, Wisconsin voters head back to the polls — and there will be more than 70 school referendums in districts across the state. The rising tide of referendums is happening because the Republican-controlled Legislature hasn’t kept the state’s share of school funding in line with inflation for 15 years. And it also refuses to fix some deception on property tax bills.

You might see a big dollar amount going to your local school district, but you don’t see how much of your tax dollars are actually siphoned off that amount and used for private school vouchers, making public school even more reliant on local property taxes.

Free breakfast and lunch in school. That’s what Democratic senators wanted for Wisconsin kids.

But the “Healthy School Meals for All” proposal was blocked by Assembly Republicans… again.

Democratic Sen. Sarah Keyeski of Lodi and others introduced the legislation to reduce family food costs, eliminate hunger-related stigma, and support local farmers by funding universal, nutritious meals amidst historic cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) under President Trump’s so-called “Big Beautiful Bill” last summer.

Blockage of the legislation comes as the majority-Republican House Agriculture Committee advanced a new Farm Bill that doesn’t reverse those cuts.

As a result, millions more people could go hungry—many of them children.

SNAP cuts will also strip children of school food assistance. When families lose SNAP benefits now, their kids also lose automatic eligibility for free and reduced meals at school.

Having to apply directly for school meals increases the administrative burden on schools and forces families to tackle complex paperwork.

The Healthy School Meals for All act would have provided critical help, but this marks the third straight legislative session where Republicans refused to even bring it up for a vote.

✏️: Salina Heller