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"There is nothing easy about trying to boost academic outcomes for poor kids. That is why we've supported a range of aggressive interventions for the Chicago Public Schools over the years, including school closures, charter openings, turnarounds, improved teacher evaluations, a longer school day and changes to teaching tenure, hiring and firing rules."

"Education affects the number of people who depend on welfare, the number of incarcerated people and the number of people who live below the poverty line in America. An investment in education is investment in the future of the United States and its status as an international superpower."

"Enrichment through preschool is particularly important for children from low-income families, experts say. The state's childhood poverty rate is now climbing faster than the national average. That's among the unprecedented challenges facing this generation of Iowa children, the subject of a yearlong Des Moines Register special project."

"Learning to take turns or to identify the colors of the rainbow may not sound like big business, but experts say early childhood education has the potential to become the state's No. 1 economic development tool. Researchers have found that investing in the early education of low-income children, in particular, has produced positive results. For every dollar spent on such programs, studies have found a return of $4 to $9."

"The biggest blow would be to education funding, with schools poised to lose millions of dollars for everything from nutrition programs for students from low-income families to teacher training. According to documents released by the governor's budget office, the largest reduction would come in the form of a $53 million cut to grants distributed to schools with a high percentage of students from low-income families. Schools use the money to beef up tutoring and other programs aimed at preventing students from dropping out."

"University of Maryland, Baltimore received close to $500,000 in federal funding to put toward health education programs for low-income families."

"Federal education officials are poised to reject California's self-styled bid to avoid the strict requirements of the No Child Left Behind law, which could lead to radical reforms at hundreds of low-income schools."

"Last month, Wisconsin was awarded $22.7 million from the federal Race to the Top Early Learning Challenge, one of five states to receive grants this year. But failure to avert the fiscal cliff would result in 8 percent cuts in Head Start and a portion of the funding for the Child Care and Development Block Grant, programs key to ensuring that low-income children have access to high-quality early education."

"Gov. Jerry Brown is pushing hard to overhaul California's convoluted school funding system. His plan has two major objectives: Give K-12 districts greater control over how they spend money, and send more dollars to impoverished students and English learners."

"Schools across Illinois have experienced a double whammy in recent years. As the number of homeless students continues to rise -- 22 percent during the past two years -- state and federal funding for homeless education has fallen 64 percent since peaking in 2009. With government support flat-lining, experts worry that cash-strapped schools won't have enough resources to meet the demands of the growing population."

"Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst and Senate Education Chairman Dan Patrick of Houston are proposing that Texas businesses be allowed to claim a franchise tax credit of up to 25 percent and direct it to nonprofit groups that would fund private school scholarships for low-income children."

"It is estimated that nationally, 61 percent of children from low-income families have no books at all in the home. Research from the Federal Interagency Forum on Child and Family Statistics shows that 64 percent of families whose incomes are at or above the poverty level read to their preschoolers on a daily basis compared to only 48 percent of families below the poverty level. This lack of daily engagement can have devastating results."