Education and Poverty News
"Gov. Pat Quinn is pushing state lawmakers to raise the age students can legally drop out of school from 17 to 18, a move aimed at improving graduation rates but one that local educators say won't accomplish much unless the state also provides the money to keep at-risk students in school."
"So for elementary and middle schools, the rankings are based on student performance and improvement on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test. For high schools, they are based half on FCAT scores and half on other factors such as high school graduation rates and student success in advanced classes. But these rankings concern some educators, who say it does not take into account how factors such as poverty can impact students' academic performance."
"More than half the students come from poor households, but the trappings of high unemployment and poverty have not slowed them in school. Wells Academy was named Ohio's No. 1 public elementary school in the state's first school ranking based on student test scores."
"According to the New Jersey Education Law Center, low-income students make up 70 percent of students in the former Abbott districts, but only 27 percent of enrollment statewide. The state's 31 poorest districts -- the so-called Abbotts, which receive additional state aid as a result of a series of New Jersey Supreme Court rulings starting in 1985 -- also serve more than half of the state's black and Hispanic students."
"A shelter with 16 beds for homeless youths could be completed in two months, Northwest Youth Services Executive Director Riannon Bardsley said, if the agency gets the money it needs to finish the work."
"A report from Portland State University and the Coalition of Communities of Color delivers grim news about Latinos living in Multnomah County: They are poorer, their jobless rate is higher, and the teen birth rate is six times that for whites."
"Five students from The Wardlaw-Hartridge School in Edison participated in a candlelight vigil to recognize the homeless on Dec. 21, the first day of winter, at the Edison Municipal Building."
"On Friday in Liberty City, more than 500 students at Holmes Elementary received their very own, green-and-white laptops. Students can use them in class and take them home. The idea is that their curiosity will spark learning in new ways."
"President Obama repeated a familiar refrain about the importance of teachers in his State of the Union speech: 'A great teacher can offer an escape from poverty to the child who dreams beyond his circumstance."
"Mr. Thomas, the Education Department spokesman, said the community's challenges were all the more reason for the city to step in. 'We don't believe students in those kinds of neighborhoods deserve to be languishing in a low-quality school,' he said. 'It's unfortunate that a lot of these schools are in low-income areas. Frankly, those are the students we need to help the most.'"
"One in five Robertson County school-aged children were living in poverty in 2010, according to new U. S. Census data released. Sometimes, younger children fall victim to their parents’ financial struggles, said Monica Causey, the lead family contact with Early Connections Network in Nashville."
"Governor Deval Patrick proposed a $32.3 billion annual spending plan yesterday that would eliminate 240,000 free and subsidized lunches for senior citizens, apply the sales tax to candy and soda, and close a prison in Norfolk while boosting spending on education to unprecedented levels."
"On the heels of an announcement that the Upward Bound program at the University of Wisconsin campuses in Sheboygan and Manitowoc would be shut down as of Feb. 1, the UW chancellor announced Wednesday that some components of the program will live on."
"Lunch prices for Ridgewood are $2.25 for kindergarten to third grade and $2.50 for fourth through 12th grade. Breakfast is $1. Reduced prices for low-income students who qualify are 40 cents for lunch and 30 cents for breakfast."
"But some perspective is in order. The rankings do not factor in a district’s size, progress or demographics, or consider graduation rates, Advanced Placement outcomes or other educational benchmarks like overall student progress. School superintendents from around the state justifiably cried foul over the rankings, especially those districts with high numbers of children living in poverty."
"In Middle Tennessee, Rutherford County schools used income factors when drawing attendance zones for new schools. Oakland and Whitworth-Buchanan middle schools opened in 2010, and Rutherford County used the opportunity to spread the district's 40 percent low-income students out more evenly."
"In Oak Park, a red brick and concrete building has risen with a promise to help low-income and unemployed families become financially independent. Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services' new $3.5 million Education and Technology Center will offer parenting classes, and adult and youth education programs. It will house 11 classrooms and 120 computers."
"But the longer school day debate has exposed the social divide in a district with 86 percent of students classified as low-income, but with a growing number of middle- and upper-middle-income families speaking out against across-the-board district policies.
Parents from poorer communities -- who may not have extracurricular options available in their neighborhood -- are welcoming the chance for their children to be off the street and in school longer."
"She's not a finalist, but clearly a winner. A New York high school student who attracted national attention after it was reported she was living in a homeless shelter is not among the 40 finalists in the prestigious Intel Science contest."
"The bonuses are one of three key programs that Charleston Promise Neighborhood is implementing this year. The nonprofit's long-term goals are to improve education and break the cycle of poverty in a four-school area of Charleston and North Charleston."
"'Participation has continued to increase as more low-income and first-generation students see college as a viable option,' Patterson said. 'This is a trend that has been documented throughout the entire CSU system.'"
"Just as the wealthiest 1 percent of Americans gobble up a disproportionate share of the nation's economic resources and rejigger our institutions to funnel them benefits and power, so too do our educational 1 percent suck up a disproportionate share of academic opportunities, and threaten to reconfigure academic culture so that it both mimics and serves their values."
"The problem will continue to grow next year, when thousands of families lose jobless benefits and other cash assistance. Despite scarce resources, school districts and the state must do more to reduce the number of homeless students and ensure that those who are homeless graduate and succeed."
"Sandia Base sits behind the security perimeter of Kirtland Air Force Base. About 10 percent of its 525 students come from low-income neighborhoods outside the base, and 90 percent come from families on base with an active-duty member in the military."
"Local philanthropic leaders launched the project a year ago, vowing to pump $11 million a year for five years into the struggling schools, which serve mostly African-American and low-income students."
Next »