Latest Coverage

"Nearly a decade after reaching retirement age and qualifying for Medicare, Johnson cannot afford to give up her job. Even with the paycheck it brings, her income is only a few notches above the federal poverty level."

"Teachers at charter high schools in high-poverty neighborhoods are particularly likely to leave their schools 40 percent as compared to about 18 percent in regular inner-city high schools, reported the study, which was to be presented to LAUSD officials Tuesday morning."

"Toni's healthy appetite for school started when she received her first backpack last year for kindergarten - a necessity for the first day of school that her family, homeless and living in a Bronx shelter, could not afford. Through 'Operation Backpack' - a back-to-school donation drive - Toni was able to begin kindergarten 'like the rest of the kids,' said her mother, Venus Raymond, 38."

"'What we really need to do is go in to those districts and see if these really are choices being made,' Mr. Skiba said. 'We don't really know enough about the reasons for African-American and Latino over-representation in school discipline. We have enough data to show that it's more than just poverty and any greater misbehavior.'"

"'I won't go into a lot of details about my background, or where I came from,' he said. 'I'll just say it was a lot harder being homeless. I'm so grateful for the opportunity to live in a place where I can afford to meet my obligations.'"

"For most students, the cost of a semester's worth of bus rides will be $185. If families have more than one bus rider, they will pay $135 for each additional child. Students eligible for free and reduced lunches will be charged $100 per semester. 'We really don't know how many will pay,' Deputy Superintendent Mark Youngs said."Trustees agreed to spend about $500,000 to offset reduced prices for low-income students and families with multiple riders."

"A few days ago, the school system in the nation's capital announced the firing of 206 teachers for poor performance, using an evaluation system that most negatively impacted teachers at schools in the city's most poverty-ridden neighborhoods."

"Falls schools generally have a large and diverse student population, so each subgroup must make adequate yearly progress for the school to pass. But smaller and more homogenous schools can skate by with a few minority or low-income students scoring below expectations."

"With a number of those students needing the extra help that Head Start would provide, Stocks and other administrators felt they had a winning hand. The program was launched in 1965 to provide education, health, nutrition and parent involvement programs to low-income children and their families."

"The state Department of Health Care Services reported that 30 percent of Sacramento County children ages 2 to 4 in low-income public health programs in 2009 were overweight or obese."

"Thus it is disturbing to note that in the debt ceiling debate, funding for Pell Grants remains a bargaining chip rather than a commitment to our aspiring but low-income youth."

"'I agree that IMPACT is working exactly the way it was designed, and there are some flaws in the design,' he said. IMPACT puts teachers who work in challenging, high-poverty schools at a disadvantage, making it difficult for them to get high scores, he added."