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"In defense of Anderson, his motives, while not defensible, are understandable. He, and others, are frustrated by low-income students trapped in failing schools, and the perceived societal neglect of those students' social and emotional needs. Other trends also are at work here. Drugs are a lucrative shortcut. Performance-enhancing drugs in sports are ubiquitous (see Armstrong, Lance). Pharmaceutical companies seek to expand the indications for the use of their drugs (off-labeling') to increase their profits."

"Low-income families need assistance early to ensure children enter school on par with their more affluent peers, said Rich Huddleston, executive director of Arkansas Advocates for Children in Little Rock. Programs that help include those that provide good prenatal care for mothers, promote a strong bond between parents and children and ensure that families have access to quality child-care programs. Children from low-income families also need quality programs after school and during the summer, he said."

"It's ironic that, just as the U.S. poverty rate rises to its highest level in more than four decades, the Pell Grant program -- the most important source of federal aid for low-income students aspiring to a college education -- celebrates its 40th anniversary. There is good reason to celebrate the Pell Grant's huge impact on expanding college access."

"Dozens of rigorous, independent studies have shown that PBS children's programming results in dramatically improved literacy skills, which narrows the achievement gap between low-income and middle-income kids and increases the desire of kids to read and visit libraries and bookstores. The impact of PBS on preparing preschoolers for school, especially among low-income families, is nothing less than astounding."

"The use of such psychotropic medications, covered by Medicaid, to improve impulse control, listening, and study habits has yielded some positive results. Another generation of poor children who attend inadequate schools should not have to leave school with little prospect for prosperity, just because they live in a society that doesn't fully recognize the value of investing in their futures. Still, the less-than-discriminate use of psychotropic drugs for children carries troubling physical and psychological risks, including addiction, higher blood pressure, stunted growth, and, rarely, psychotic episodes."

"Parents' lack of education often translates into poverty for their children and increases the likelihood that their children will struggle in school, research shows."

"Three Monterey County public schools have joined an elite group of achievers after reaching a level of academic performance once viewed as out of reach for schools with high poverty rates, education officials said Thursday."

"Only schools that receive federal funding for low-income students, about 349 in Orange County, are subject to sanctions for not making adequate yearly progress. Locally, 261 schools face sanctions for missing testing goals, up from 178 last year. Sanctions include required tutoring, allowing parents to transfer students to better-performing schools, a change of principals and state takeover, depending on how many years a school misses targets."

"At Anthony Elementary, almost all of the 420 students come from low-income families. Almost all entered the K-6 school speaking Spanish as their first language. And apparently someone forgot to tell them, their parents and their teachers at the schoolhouse door that poverty and having English as your second language are insurmountable roadblocks to learning absent huge new injections of taxpayer cash - which carry no guarantee of positive results."

"Metropolitan Community College has received a $2.5 million grant to allow more low-income students to enter the school's nursing program."

"As the number of students from low-income families has increased in area schools, teachers frequently reach into their own pockets to buy school supplies, food and even clothes for kids that come to school empty handed. Experts say local teachers spend an average of $700 to $1,000 a year to buy items for students and their classrooms."

"Almost everywhere, minority and low-income students lag on test scores and graduation rates, and the challenges tend to be even bigger at schools where most students are disadvantaged. CMS has tried everything from offering bonuses to recruit top teachers to closing low-performing urban middle schools and creating K-8 schools, the same structure as Sugar Creek."