Latest Coverage

"A report released yesterday by the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation examined poverty among seniors for 2009 through 2011 as lawmakers consider changes to government programs that many rely on, including Social Security, food stamps, Medicare and Medicaid. Cuts in services or added out-of-pocket expenses would really hurt folks who are barely getting by now,' said Diana Kubovcik, clinical services director for the Central Ohio Area Agency on Aging."

"The share of seniors living in poverty at least doubles in 12 states under the U.S. Census Bureau's supplemental' poverty measure, according to an analysis released today by the Kaiser Family Foundation."

"The report by the New America Foundation, a research group based in Washington, D.C., analyzed U.S. Education Department data showing the net price' the amount students pay after grants and scholarships have been exhausted for low-income students at thousands of colleges nationwide for the 2010-11 school year."

"In L.A. Unified, schools with as few as 40% low-income students had been receiving dollars, although at a lower funding level. Last year, with relatively little notice, L.A. Unified raised the minimum to 50%, which added to shortfalls at schools already enduring recession-related cuts. LACES was one such campus, with 46% low-income students last year."

"[A] new Kaiser Family Foundation report finds that the SPM poverty rate for senior citizens is actually higher than the official rate: 15 percent vs. 9 percent. And when you include people living within 200 percent of the poverty line, the picture under SPM looks even worse."

"The Louisiana voucher law gives up most accountability for school finances or student achievement when it hands over the taxpayers' check. The schools that take fewer than 40 voucher students are not even be required to show any data for their students' learning. These schools are not required to hire certified teachers or teach the skills students need for higher education and the workplace in the 21st century."

"Rios and his neighbors in the low-income senior housing where he lives on Wilmington's west side are one segment of the growing population of older adults in the First State, where nearly a third of residents are projected to be 60 or older by 2030. Delaware is grappling with how to provide needed services for this surge of residents, many of whom wish to stay in their communities."

"Many low-income families look to their children to assist with the family business or otherwise contribute to the family's income. They see the short-term need for money to support the family and not the long-term benefits of education. This is a crisis that has a solution. At Boys & Girls Clubs of Metro Atlanta, our 2020 goal is to have 90 percent of the children in our clubs graduate on time by providing valuable out-of-school programs."

"Medical costs are a reason that AARP and other senior advocacy groups believe the government's poverty threshold needs to be replaced with an experimental, more detailed measurement called the Supplemental Poverty Measure."

"Examples of housing instability include a student in the foster-care system or in a joint-custody situation, or families that face homelessness or are in temporary shelters due to an inability to pay rent or a mortgage. Lauren Greene, a representative of the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE), said homelessness looks different in the Berkshires than it does in urban areas, leading to a lower student mobility rate in the county when the two are compared."

"Because there is a relationship between economic advantage and student performance, students of disadvantaged households are more likely to develop feelings of apathy. This is a major problem facing our institution, especially as 20% of American children are living in poverty. The level of achievement required of all students - including those in poverty - places a lot of pressure on schools."

"The Brattleboro School Board at its meeting this week approved a plan by Early Education Services to cut 25 Head Start classroom slots, and another 12 Early Head Start home-based visiting slots due to the federal cuts that will go into place on July 1. Early Education Services Executive Director Debra Gass said the cuts had to be made after Congress failed to address the sequester earlier this year and the EES budget, which starts on July 1, had to be put in place."