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Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity leads research and consulting initiatives that identify and address barriers to economic well-being.
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Denver Business Journal, March 7, 2012: Walton Family Foundation gives $8M for Colorado education reform in 2011
"'Grants were made to organizations and programs that empower parents, particularly in low-income communities, to choose among quality, publicly funded schools for their children,' the foundation said in a news release. To date, it has donated more than $1 billion to education reform."
Los Angeles Times, March 6, 2012: Suspension figures called 'alarming'; Black students in L.A. are disciplined at a higher rate, data show
"Compared to other large school systems, low-income minority students are less likely to be taught by inexperienced teachers. Budget cuts that resulted in the layoff of less-experienced teachers in Los Angeles might be a contributing factor."
New York Times, March 6, 2012: Black Students Face More Discipline, Data Suggests
" It has been reinstated and expanded to examine a broader range of information, including, for the first time, referrals to law enforcement, an area of increasing concern to civil rights advocates who see the emergence of a school-to-prison pipeline for a growing number of students of color."
The Star-Ledger, March 6, 2012: Task force targets N.J. school lunch fraud, aid formula
"Citing high levels of fraud and abuse in the school lunch program, Gov. Chris Christie yesterday launched a task force to examine how school aid is distributed in New Jersey."
The New York Times, March 6, 2012: AARP Study Says Price of Popular Drugs Rose 26%
"The AARP report, which examined the retail prices of the 514 brand name and generic drugs most widely used by Medicare recipients, said that the price of generic drugs fell by nearly 31 percent from 2005 to 2009. But at the same time that brand-name drug prices grew by nearly 41 percent and specialty drugs rose more than 48 percent."
Education Week, March 8, 2012: Growing Gaps Bring Focus on Poverty's Role in Schooling
"The fractious debate over how much schools can counteract poverty's impact on children is far from settled, but a recently published collection of research strongly suggests that until policymakers and educators confront deepening economic and social disparities, poor children will increasingly miss out on finding a path to upward social mobility."
News and Observer, March 6, 2012: Poor say thanks, George
"Cleveland, to jeers and cheers, last week denied the presence of extreme poverty in North Carolina and said that statistics showing it are merely manipulated by the government for political benefit. His comments coincided with the NAACP's statewide poverty tour - the Rev. William Barber invited me to come with him and meet some Vietnam vets sleeping under bridges in Fayetteville - and the N.C. Community Action Association's push to publicize its own 'Face-to-Face with Poverty' initiative."
The New York Times, March 5, 2012: Budget Cuts May Threaten City Programs for Children
"Previous rounds of budget reductions have already eroded these programs, the advocates said. The number of children from low-income working families who attend city-subsidized child care has dropped by more than 9,000 since 2009, from 51,712 to 42,215. A"
Daily News, March 5, 2012: (Op-Ed) Principal of low-rated school sorry for gaffe
"The letter shifts into pure fiction, audaciously blaming the low ratings on the school's "huge financial cuts" and wrongly stating that richer schools were spared from the belt-tightening."
Tri-City Herald, March 4, 2012: Richland schools, organizations fight effects of poverty on students
"The boy is one of about 26 students from Richland's Marcus Whitman Elementary School receiving tutoring and breakfast twice a week at nearby West Side Church. As he munched on cereal and a granola bar, the second-grader said he didn't get much help on schoolwork from his parents."
Knoxville News-Sentinel, March 4, 2012: C-N students help build new homeless shelter
"About a dozen students showed up to work at the site of a new Samaritan House, which will quadruple the size of the existing homeless shelter run by Carson-Newman College's auxiliary ministry, Appalachian Outreach."
The Washington Post, March 4, 2012: What D.C.'s school funding commission accomplished
"The District has embarked on two major structural education reforms: creation of one of the largest public charter school sectors in the nation, and a mayoral takeover of D.C. Public Schools. Yet little attention has been paid to the financing needed to make these ambitious makeovers successful."
