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"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."

"But it's time to move beyond this familiar back and forth and entertain a grand compromise in which the federal school-funding policy allows for portability of money only if doing so will reduce what research suggests is one of the biggest impediments to equal educational opportunity: deep levels of economic segregation in American schools. A policy change that takes this reality into consideration could have a significant positive impact on the lives of millions of children."

"Hundreds of low-income Iowans will get an unpleasant surprise when they apply for rent reimbursement from the state this year. The Iowa Department of Revenue is reducing 2014 reimbursements to 429 low-income seniors and disabled residents by an average $89 after discovering the agency accidentally overpaid them last year."

"The Houston Independent School District has received an $8.5 million grant to help more low-income students graduate from college, Superintendent Terry Grier announced Wednesday. The funds from Houston Endowment Inc. will enable the district to hire more college counselors and special advisers, rapidly expanding the small but popular program that largely targets students who will be the first in their families to pursue higher education."

"On the funding side, [The Rural Renewable Energy Alliance] RREAL got a grant from the McKnight Foundation in December to help jumpstart the project's creation. The model makes sense [] not only because it increases the amount of clean energy used in Minnesota, but because it's beneficial to low-income families in multiple ways."

"Programs to help low-income, at-risk families and children in Pennsylvania will get a financial boost over the next four years thanks to a $24.3 million grant from the federal government. The Pennsylvania Office of Child Development and Early Learning announced Tuesday that it received the grant. The federal grant will be paid to the state over the next four and a half years. The money will be used to increase the number of infants and toddlers receiving services from Early Head Start."

"FUEL an acronym for the organization's old name, Families United in Educational Leadership is a Boston-based college savings program that matches within a certain range the amount each family saves for a student's education. [] FUEL provides savings bonuses and other incentives that encourage families to save and stay involved. [] FUEL raises money for the matching funds by applying for grants from foundations and partnering with businesses. [] She said while the FUEL students are low-income and will be eligible for financial aid, families will likely still have other expenses, whether it's covering a portion of tuition or paying for books."

"A new report shows 11 million low-income children from around the nation participate, on an average day, in free breakfast programs but when it comes to reaching hungry kids New York is at the 'back of the bus.' The report from the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) shows New York coming in at 40th among states. Joel Berg, executive director of the New York City Coalition Against Hunger, says there is plenty of room for the state to do better, especially since breakfast programs are paid for with federal funding."

"There are a lot of pressures on schools. Innovate, generate better student outcomes and cut your budget and there are a couple of retirees who are trying to help and Rutland High School is benefiting. Rutland High School has 862 students, 79 teachers and counselors and a $10.2 million budget. And the principal says the school is able to meet new state education standards thanks to hard work and a big investment from the Rowland Foundation. So far, the foundation has funded 37 fellowships around the state, from creating a new approach to teaching low income students to launching farm-to-table programs before they became cool."

"In Omaha, Nebraska, $297,500 was granted to 20 local agencies. Grants will fund a wide range of programs including health and human services for homeless and low-income families, after-school enrichment and arts programming for disadvantaged youth, and senior support services."

"As the Obama administration makes early-childhood education a top domestic priority and most states are expanding preschool for low-income kids, Minnesota is taking a unique approach. It is the first state to make a major investment in a market-based preschool subsidy. So-called 'early-learning scholarships' follow children, whether they enroll in a public school pre-kindergarten or federal Head Start, which the government pays for anyway, or a private center such as New Horizon or home day care that charges fees. The scholarships, essentially pre-kindergarten vouchers, are designed to steer the most at-risk kids into the highest-quality care and reduce the achievement gap at the outset."