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"The bars have been a part of Chute Middle School since its construction in 1966 and are intended to protect students from the outside world, according to officials. But some students and parents say the bars have affected the way the outside world views the school, which is located in a south Evanston neighborhood that has a larger percentage of low-income and minority students than areas served by the city's other two middle schools."

"The California Department of Education denied grant applications from about 60% of Fresno County high schools wanting to continue or expand after-school programs. No school in Central Unified, Sanger Unified or Clovis Unified got new funding for the 21st Century programs, a federally funded program for high-poverty, low-performing schools."

"'I'd finally hit rock bottom after so many years, and I had (to change) or I would die,' she said. 'It was a pretty easy choice ... (because) I'd pretty much lost everything.' Bell found her salvation at The Haven Shelter, an Idaho Falls shelter for women and homeless families."

"Starting this fall, thousands of poor and middle-class kids will get vouchers covering the full cost of tuition at more than 120 private schools across Louisiana, including small, Bible-based church schools."

"To pass, students had to score at the 'satisfactory' or higher 'advanced' level. Districts with greater percentages of low-income students tended to perform the worst. The highest scores came on the biology test, with 84 percent passing in HISD and 97 percent passing in Clear Creek, for example. The Texas Education Agency is expected to release statewide results Friday."

"Because drug dealing doesn't last. Thug life has no retirement plan. And because the best antidote to poverty is education. I plan to say as much at an awards celebration this Thursday evening to a group of Chicago public elementary school students in a program called 'It's So Cool To Be Smart' - which seeks to promote college, and encourages and rewards student achievement while also strengthening 'a culture of student success within schools.'"

"With the default rate steadily rising among the nation's 36 million student loan borrowers, President Obama is seeking to ease the repayment process by streamlining enrollment in the income-based repayment program, which helps low-income borrowers by capping monthly payments at 15 percent of their discretionary income, and 10 percent in 2014."

"Ninety percent are paid hourly, with the current median hourly wage for full-time workers at just $9.25 -- barely sufficient to keep them out of poverty. 'It's striking how severe young people's problems are,' said Carl Van Horn, co-author of the study and the director of the John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers. 'These are folks at the beginning of their work lives already feeling very pessimistic about themselves.'"

'A yearlong investigation into a federal pension program for low-income veterans has concluded that weak oversight and unclear rules have made the system ripe for abuse, including by financial planners and lawyers who help well-off retirees qualify for benefits by transferring or hiding assets."

"As a whole, the 20 districts with the highest percentages of students with 504s had enrollments that were 76 percent white; all had far less poverty than the state average of 45 percent of enrollment. The 20 districts with the lowest percentages of 504s were 19 percent white, and the vast majority had far higher poverty than the state average."

"The job market is still bleak for young people with only high school diplomas. Nearly half of high school graduates are still looking for full-time work, according to a new report by Rutgers University's John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development."

"Another federal review of New Hanover County Community Action Inc.'s Head Start program described more problems at the Wilmington nonprofit, including 'massive' staff turnover, the hiring of unqualified employees for top positions and a shortage of books and other supplies in classrooms."