Latest Coverage

"'I think the reasons minority students don't attend college are the same as the widening (academic) achievement gap,' she said. 'Poverty or culture can play a part. But they also don't have role models in schools, there aren't enough teachers or staff for them to look up to or see as role models.'"

"The agreement came after a $3.47 million federal five-year grant aimed at increasing the number of students in STEM fields, including Hispanic and low-income students. The schools received the award in October 2011, and have been practicing some form of the initiative since 2008, when they signed a memorandum of understanding that called for a closer working relationship."

"The number of Florida's children living in poverty swelled 35 percent from 2006 to 2010 -- an increase that especially hurt black and Hispanic youth -- a new report shows. Using the most recent statistics available, the report found that nearly one in every four Florida children, or about 924,000 collectively, now lives below the federal poverty line."

"Massachusetts school districts may soon be spared the expense of busing thousands of homeless students to class. But a plan for the state to take over the $11.3 million bill means state taxpayers -- rather than individual communities -- would pay the rising costs of the federally mandated program."

"For low-income Americans, it's akin to being stuck yelling out a window to communicate while everyone else is using the phone. Overall, 90 percent of Americans making between $50,000 and $74,999 are online, according to a study released by the Pew Research Center in April. For those making more than $75,000 annually, it's 97 percent."

"Last week, news spread of a unique partnership between Planned Parenthood and the Los Angeles Unified School District. Planned Parenthood now runs a "health clinic" on the grounds of Roosevelt High School, serving mostly teens from low-income, Latino families."

"Cherry Hill is preparing to scale back rent control, prompting fears among senior citizens that they soon could be priced out of their apartments and forced to move to less expensive suburbs."

"American students in grades one through nine reportedly lose one month of learning, on average, during a typical three-month summer break - which is often referred to as the "summer slide" - and research shows this loss is most pronounced in kids from low-income homes."

"Sampson was part of a group of people who attended an informational meeting Monday about the state's Student Scholarships for Educational Excellence program at the Wilborn-Dempsey Multipurpose Resource Center in Alexandria. It was one of a series of meetings hosted by the Black Alliance for Educational Options to educate parents in low-income families about the program."

"To maintain their numbers, schools will have to recruit high-schoolers who might not otherwise attend college - and that will mean, among other things, reaching out to minority and low-income groups."

"Pritzker said he also is interested in helping grow the Denver-based Nurse-Family Partnership, in which a nurse periodically visits low-income, first-time moms at their homes. He also cited the Fussy Baby Network, run by Chicago's Erikson Institute, which operates a hotline for parents whose infants are excessively crying."

"Of the 388,338 children who live in West Virginia, 40,872 live in extreme poverty, and 128,000 are part of the supplemental nutrition assistance program, according to data released in January from the Children's Defense Fund."