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"With the launch of the Internet Essentials program, the company is offering these low-income parents a rate of $9.95 a month plus tax for at least three school years, a chance to buy a Dell or Acer netbook for about $150, and access to free digital literacy training."

"The Coalition of Large School Systems, a group that represents schools in Tennessee's four biggest cities, is taking on legislation that would give low-income families in Nashville, Chattanooga, Knoxville and Memphis thousands of dollars a year to attend private schools."

"Richard Milburn Academy, a charter school with 85 percent minority enrollment, has a 23 percent graduation rate. In 2009, 15 percent of all births in Dunbar were to teen mothers. This compares with 10 percent of all Lee County births. The unemployment rate in the predominantly low-income 33916 ZIP code is 28 percent."

"The competition is aimed at ensuring children - especially those with disabilities or other challenges - are prepared for kindergarten. Grants range from $50 million to $100 million. Virginia was eligible for as much as $60 million."

"Poverty rates increased for adults 55 to 64 but declined for those 65 and older, while low incomes were more prevalent in older age groups than younger ones. About one-third of workers 65 and older are in low-wage jobs - those that paid less than $10.20 per hour in 2007 or $11per hour in 2010."

"Only 4 percent of Memphis City Schools seniors are ready for college, based on scoring at least 19 on the ACT, the college entrance exam taken by district seniors. In other words, of 6,774 seniors, only 271 are college ready."

"Schools that get federal funds for low-income students must offer tutoring or student transfers to other schools if they miss the test targets for back-to-back years. They also must provide the state with plans to improve the school's academic performance."

"All charter schools are lottery by law. But we're researching right now putting in an at-risk preference to target children who are living in poverty."

"'America's Urban Crisis' represents a clear-eyed, historical look at the economic and social policies, supported by color-blind politics, that have gutted and segregated Detroit and other U.S. cities, relegating millions of their residents to generational poverty, failing schools and an insidious prison industry. "

"U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced the competitive grant program in May along with U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. The funding is intended to increase the access of low-income and disadvantaged children to quality early childhood education programs."

"The highest percentage of low-income families in the district reside near Lincoln Elementary School, where 55 percent of students receive or qualify for free and reduced-cost school meals -- about 5 percent more than last year."

"One common thread, whether I'm reporting on poverty in New York City or in Sierra Leone, is that a good education tends to be the most reliable escalator out of poverty. Another common thread: whether in America or Africa, disadvantaged kids often don't get a chance to board that escalator."