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"Ottawa County was tied for first in a state ranking of child well-being, and Kent County came in 26th place. However, both counties saw dramatic increases in the number of children living in poverty, according to the Kids Count in Michigan report by the Michigan League for Public Policy."

"A University of North Carolina Board of Governors' working group issued a draft report on the university's institutes and centers this week that recommended shutting down three centers on university campuses, including Chapel Hill's Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity. The center a non-partisan, interdisciplinary institute designed to study and advocate for proposals, policies and services to mitigate poverty does not receive funding directly from the state, operates on $120,000 a year and, if closed, will be forced to return private money that had been secured to keep functioning through 2016, its director, Gene Nichols, said in a statement."

"The Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education now says instruction provided during the breakfast period can be included in structured learning time, and child nutrition advocates say the decision could turn things around when it comes to reaching low-income children with a healthy breakfast at school."

"A University of North Carolina Board of Governors panel has recommended the elimination of three university centers, including UNC-Chapel Hill's Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity, whose director has been an outspoken critic of the Republican political leadership."

"There is strong evidence that poverty is the major problem in American education: When researchers control for poverty, our performance on international tests is at the top of the world. Poverty means poor diet, inadequate healthcare and lack of access to books."

"Poverty is among the biggest challenges faced by children in Indiana, according to the results of an annual Indiana Youth Institute summary. Although the economy is rebounding from the recession, the 2015 Kids Count Data Book finds 22 percent of children in the state are living in poverty."

"'One of the main conclusions is that there are great inequalities of peoples' chances of getting or entering post-secondary (education), where they will go and whether they will get a bachelor's degree depending upon their family's income situation.'"

"One in five kids relied on food stamps last year, yet nearly half of low-income children didn't sit down to the most important meal of the day, according to a recent report released by the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC). The organization determined the figures by comparing the number of kids who partook in the free lunch program to those who took advantage of the gratis breakfast option, which is administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture."

"The 2015 Legislature has the opportunity to make more progress for preschoolers based on the general and often bipartisan support for some of the ideas that have already been introduced. One of those proposals, which calls for state-funded, school-based programs for all 4-year-olds, should be modified. Rather than approving a universal program, lawmakers should fund expansion of the current scholarship program targeted to lower-income students."

"CAP's brief outlines how, as a result of the cap on taxable earnings$118,500 for 2015Social Security's funding is tied directly to the full wages that low- and middle-income workers earnbut not to the full wages that higher-earning workers receive. The brief finds that in 2013, the top 1 percent of earners took home nearly the same share of the nation's total wage income as the entire bottom half of workers. As a result, income has shifted away from workers whose full earnings are subject to payroll taxes and toward high-income workers whose additional dollars are exempt."