Environment

How This Arkansas School District Provide Teachers Better Pay Through Solar Energy

Solar Panel Saved Enough for the Arkansas School District to Give Teachers Raises.

Teaching is a respectable occupation but it comes with its own sets of challenges. While having patience with many disrespectful children is one thing. But when you add low income into the narrative, the occupation seems almost dodgeable. However, this Arkansas school district has been able to provide better pay to the teachers by changing one simple thing, their energy consumption habit.

The Batesville School District in Arkansas was once on the verge of losing credible teachers in their schools. The salaries the teachers got were below average and quite lower than the ones in nearby districts of the county. But their utility expenses, however, was crossing the limits. So, the Arkansas school district decided to change the way they used energy. And with a collective effort, the school installed solar panels in and around the school.

Solar Panel Saved Enough for the Arkansas School District to Give Teachers Raises.

Generation 180

Before installing the solar panels, the school district was paying around $600,000 in utility bills. All the energy that it used came from Arkansas’s largest coal-fired power plant just 17 miles west. But after the revelation, the school district comprising of six schools decided that it was time to change.

Due to high utility expenses, the Arkansas school district with roughly 3200 students had a hard time retaining teachers. So, as a solution, they chose a more sustainable form of energy, solar energy.

For the Arkansas school district, the decision of installing solar panels across the school was a fruitful one. The 1,500 solar panels helped the school district cut its annual energy consumption by 1.6 million kW. And generate a $1.8 million surplus from the previous budget deficit. 

The gain has not only made this school district a more energy-efficient town but also helped the teachers have a better life. With the money they saved from using solar panels as a form of energy, they’ve been able to pay their teachers better. Over the years, the teachers at the Arkansas school districts are also getting raises of up to $15,000. 

Also Read: 7 Major Ways Technology is Helping Lower Our Impact on the Environment

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Priya

Talks to self, more than others. Watches "the Office" all night and quotes Michael Scott all day.
"I am Beyoncé, always."

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