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"A total of 823 Whatcom County students were homeless last school year, according to the most recent data sent recently to the state Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction. That total for the 2011-12 school year was just two more than the number of homeless students in the county's public schools reported in the previous year - but well above the pre-recession total of 516 students in the 2006-07 school year."

"It is clear chronic student truancy is a symptom of family dysfunction rooted in poverty, yet the solution proposed by Snyder and DHS is to further impoverish poor families. This policy exacerbates the very problem it purportedly aims to solve while creating more work for already overburdened school district and DHS employees."

"Nearly 200 students enrolled in colleges and universities in the District were surprised to learn late this summer that they would receive thousands of dollars from a new scholarship fund started by Mayor Vincent C. Gray and the D.C. Council using extra money in the budget. The new scholarships were awarded to graduates of D.C. high schools who are from low-income families, as determined by the federal student aid application, and in good standing at their school."

"Education is a vital means for breaking the chains of poverty, something on which leaders of all political perspectives agree. The Michigan Department of Human Services' new rule, which took effect Monday, could be viewed as a way to ensure children on welfare don't waste their chance for an education. The MDHS is monitoring the school attendance of children on welfare ages 6 to 15 years old. If any of them are found to be consistently absent from class, their families will lose their cash assistance."

"The last thing high poverty school districts need is to lose resources to provide programs and services to support students who need extra help to achieve. That's why Grand Rapids schools pulled out all the stops this summer and in the days leading up to Wednesday, Count Day, to get students in class. All public schools in Michigan were required to count the students attending their schools. That figure determines 90 percent of the state's per-pupil funding."

"Dockery said the core of the grant would be spent on schools where more than 40 percent of the students receive free or reduced lunches, a measure of poverty in Fairfax. She said that although Fairfax County is one of the most affluent in the nation, nearly 42,000 students live below the poverty line and as many as 2,500 are homeless."

"The importance of the school breakfast program comes against a backdrop of rising child poverty and a push by advocates to have schools serve breakfast early in the school day -- but after the bell has sounded. Those advocates say many schools have been unable to get children to arrive early enough for breakfast before that first bell rings, so it's important to serve it in the first few minutes of the school day -- during morning announcements, attendance and other warm-up activities."

"New Jersey saw a 21 percent rise in the number of low-income students who get school breakfasts, but it still lags far behind most other states, a report released Tuesday found. In South Jersey, seven charter schools or districts were among 64 high-poverty districts statewide where less than 31 percent of eligible students receive subsidized school breakfasts, according to the study by Advocates for Children of New Jersey, a nonprofit child research and action organization."

"The Price of Inequality,' by Joseph Stiglitz, the Nobel laureate who was chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers under President Bill Clinton. It's a searing read. We are paying a high price for our inequality an economic system that is less stable and less efficient, with less growth,' Stiglitz warns. []but a focus on inner-city and rural education including early childhood programs and job training. That approach would expand opportunity, even up the starting line, and chip away at cycles of poverty. If the cost means forcing tycoons to pay modestly higher taxes, so be it. The economy wouldn't suffer."

"Seven South Jersey charter schools or districts were among 64 high-poverty districts statewide where less than 31 percent of eligible students receive subsidized school breakfasts, according a report being released today in Newark."

"The poll, conducted by the Texas Lyceum, a leadership development group, shows three-fourths of Texans favor either regulating tuition or offsetting the costs for low-income students to make college more affordable. It suggests public support for tackling record tuition costs, which were deregulated in 2003. State leaders firmly oppose returning to regulated rates, and some are pushing other ways to take on the issue."

"About 2,000 Metro Nashville students will get a major boost toward higher education, thanks to a $3.4 million grant from the Tennessee Higher Education Commission. The GEAR UP' grant was awarded to the Metro school system earlier this week and will help fund programs that target low-income middle and high school students who could become the first members of their family to attend college."