Teachers in Michigan are taking home less pay than they did in past years, according to new research from Michigan State University. The average annual salary of almost $65,000 for a Michigan teacher is similar to the pay in nearby states, although it is slightly below the national average. Researchers found a significant decline in teacher pay over the past two decades, when adjusted for inflation. .
By Claire Carlson for The Daily Yonder.Broadcast version by Deborah Van Fleet for Nebraska News Connection reporting for The Daily Yonder-Public News Service Collaboration A federal grant of $62 million to the nonprofit Center for Rural Affairs in Lyons, Nebraska, will help build residential solar-power installations for Nebraska families who usually can’t afford the cost-saving systems, the center’s director said. The Center for Rural Affairs is one of 60 grantees across the country that will participate in the Solar for All program, a Biden administration initiative that is part of the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022. The program will provide a one-time injection of $7 billion nationally to help people who would normally have a hard time paying for residential solar production capacity. .
By Lane Wendell Fischer for The Daily Yonder.Broadcast version by Mark Moran for Iowa News Service reporting for The Daily Yonder-Public News Service Collaboration State Republican leaders are cracking down on rural members of their own party who oppose universal school vouchers, which allow families to take a portion of their state’s education funding away from public schools to pay for their child’s private education. Rural state legislators have been more likely to oppose school voucher laws because they worry the programs will weaken local public schools without ensuring educational investments for rural students. Opposition to vouchers has been a rare point of agreement between rural Republicans and urban Democrats, who also tend to oppose vouchers. But recently, the state leaders in the Republican Party have resorted to more aggressive tactics to force voucher legislation through to the governor’s desk, said Jennifer Berkshire, author of t
The nation has seen its total number of farmers and farmland decrease over the past five years and advocates for smaller producers in South Dakota said new data indicates more challenges for farming communities. This week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture released its Census of Agriculture. .
By Will Wright for The Daily Yonder.Broadcast version by Mark Richardson for Illinois News Connection reporting for The Daily Yonder-Public News Service Collaboration As the federal government distributes $42.5 billion to expand broadband internet access across America and its territories, some local leaders are asking themselves: How much economic impact could faster internet create? The true dollar figure would be spread across the economy, from agriculture and small businesses to harder-to-track impacts like an increased willingness for families to relocate to rural areas. But a report by the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society estimates that, across 15 agricultural counties in Illinois, faster internet speeds could boost production of corn and soybeans by over $100 million annually. The report argues that faster internet will allow farmers to more precisely plant, fertilize and harvest crops — a method called “precision agriculture.&rdquo