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"States receive federal money to feed senior citizens lunch. These programs require no proof of income, meaning an older person can pull up to a senior center in a Cadillac and eat a hot, nutritious meal for free. No questions asked. Yet feeding school children means embarrassing low-income families and forcing schools to try to collect on debts."

"For example, the perception that American student performance is mediocre ignores the effect of poverty, Homan said. At 21.7 percent, the United States had the highest percentage of students in poverty among the PISA countries that reported their rates. When the PISA scores of students from low-poverty U.S. schools were compared to the rest of the world, the United States ranked first, Homan said."

"Instead, Conway has concluded that he can do the most good, over the long haul, by helping low-income people get the education and training they need to land jobs that are already available. The impact could be significant in a region where tens of thousands of jobs go begging because local residents are unprepared for them. Conway disclosed Tuesday that he's making a down payment on his $1 billion promise with an initial round of grants totaling $55 million."

"Michigan parents could lose welfare benefits if they aren't sending their children to school regularly, a move educators said could be an effective "tool" against truancy. But some advocates for families in poverty say they worried struggling parents are being singled out without looking at the reasons why the children are not in school."

"The national network of Educare schools -- which includes Educare Central Maine -- was highlighted on NBC's Education Nation on Monday as an innovative education program that is demonstrating success in preparing low-income children for kindergarten."

"The Communities Foundation of Texas has announced that seven nonprofits will get more than $2 million in grants to increase the pool of quality teachers and administrators working with at-risk middle school students across North Texas. In addition, $150,000 is being awarded to 16 nonprofits participating in the Community Foundation's D3 Institute, a yearlong program focused on low-income working families."

"Michigan parents whose children don't attend school will lose welfare cash benefits under a new state policy that takes effect Oct. 1. Starting Monday, the Michigan Department of Human Services will require children ages 6-15 to attend school full time to keep their family eligible for cash benefits. If a child doesn't, the entire family becomes ineligible."

"The latest batch of college-readiness scores brought glum news across the country Monday, but especially for Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools and its high-poverty high schools. SAT scores, used to gauge whether high school seniors have the reading, math and writing skills needed for college, dipped slightly nationwide and in North Carolina. Only 43 percent of the students who took the test in 2012 hit a new benchmark' score of 1,550 out of a possible 2,400, according to The College Board, which administers the test."

"This is why plans by Washington, D.C., and some states to lower academic standards for minority and low-income students are as puzzling as they are misdirected. By what calculation do you speed up learning by lowering expectations? This delivers a devastating message to black, Hispanic and low-income children that they are not as capable as other children."

"Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said Monday that the city would open a new type of preschool in Brooklyn next year, introducing a cradle-to-kindergarten approach to education for very young children in poor neighborhoods."

"The New Teacher Project was created in 1997 to bring new, strong teachers into high-poverty urban schools. In partnership with CMS, it runs TEACH Charlotte, which recruits people in other fields and recent college graduates and trains them to lead classrooms in hard-to-fill schools and subjects. The group eventually shortened its name and broadened its focus to look at policy issues. The Irreplaceables,' released this summer, came about when the group questioned why it's so hard for urban schools to keep great teachers. Student behavior, lack of parent involvement and undesirable locations are all real factors that discourage teachers, Daly said."

"For that reason, the responsibility to promote literacy in Maine extends beyond the K-12 education system to programs such as Head Start, which provides a framework to introduce rudimentary literacy skills to children from low-income families. In addition to advocating that resources allocated to Head Start adequately reflect new demands for early literacy training, the Department of Education, through initiatives like Literacy for ME,' can provide an organizational structure and repository for resources. But -- as the report makes clear -- the effort requires broad community participation."