Advocates for Wisconsin’s Women, Infants and Children nutrition program want the state to reconsider its decision not to seek nearly $9 million in federal grants to make the benefits more convenient and less open to fraud.

Nearly four in 10 Wisconsin elementary students qualified for free or reduced-price lunch last school year, and the proportion of low-income elementary students has climbed every year of this decade, according to state Department of Public Instruction data analyzed by the Wisconsin Center for Investigative Journalism.