Poverty

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NEA President says tax plan is giveaway to wealthiest funded on backs of students and working families
The tax plan released by House Republican leaders and backed by President Trump is a massive tax giveaway to the wealthiest individuals and corporations funded on the backs of students and working families, NEA President Lily Eskelsen García said. The plan expands an education tax loophole that would further benefit the wealthy and allow them to ...
Wisconsin has nation’s widest gap in well-being between white and African-American children, report says
Wisconsin has the widest gap in well-being between white and African-American children, and other children of color face significant disparities as well, according to a new report from the Annie E. Casey Foundation. “The message remains … the well being of our white kids is in the top and the well being of our African-American kids is ...
Study recommends positive alternatives to school closings
School closures across the country have nearly doubled since the mid-1990s, with thousands of students being displaced every year, according to a new study. The study points out important facts about the fallout of school closings, such as how students of color and low-income students are disproportionately affected. Instead of closing schools, the study recommends, policymakers ...
Study links Great Recession to growing skills gap in high-poverty neighborhoods
A new study of the impact of poverty on education following the Great Recession finds a growing skills gap in high-poverty neighborhoods. The study – conducted in part by the Institute for Research on Poverty at the University of Wisconsin–Madison – found that children from the highest poverty neighborhoods start school almost a year behind children ...
WEAC Region 6 member Nick Meinel says Whitewater school closed the achievement gap by believing in its students
Thanks to the efforts of educators like WEAC Region 6 member Nick Meinel, Washington Elementary School in Whitewater has made huge strides in closing the achievement gap between advantaged and disadvantaged students, one of the ongoing goals of public education. The school motivates students, Meinel says, “by making this their positive place … by letting ...
Study links poverty to delayed brain development, learning challenges
Growing up in an environment of poverty can cause delays in the development of children’s brains, leading to ongoing challenges in school, according to new research by psychology professor Seth Pollak and economist Barbara Wolfe at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Read More...
Early childhood teachers often earn poverty wages, report says
In some places, early childhood teachers are paid less than fast-food workers, NPR says in a blog by Elissa Nadworny. Citing the Bureau of Labor Statistics, she says preschool teachers, on average, were making $28,570 in 2015, which is a little more than half of the $51,640 that kindergarten teachers were making. In six states ...
Poverty in Wisconsin reaches its highest level in 30 years
Poverty has increased more dramatically in Wisconsin in recent years than in many other states, according to an analysis just released by University of Wisconsin researchers. UW-Madison’s Applied Population Laboratory says the number of people living in poverty reached 13% across the 5 years ending in 2014 — the highest poverty rate for the state ...