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"Medicaid, the federal-state program that covers low-income and severely disabled people, would be converted into a block grant program that gives each state a lump sum to design its own insurance plans. But the poor no longer would have a right under federal law to health care."

"A good book and a federally funded program made for a fun night at the Lakewood Head Start, where students and parents found themselves benefiting from a $2,000 early childhood reading grant from Target."

"The plan would condemn millions to the ranks of the uninsured, raise health costs for seniors and renege on the obligation to keep poor children fed."

"The information presented in the 18-session Getting Ahead class is rooted in the book 'Bridges Out of Poverty,' intended for professionals, social services and churches, among others, dealing with people in poverty, Allee said."

"Numerous studies have proved the most detrimental factor in student achievement is poverty. Beaufort County, a majority poverty school district, has made great progress in improving the quality of education throughout our county."

"And poor children are probably costlier to educate than affluent ones. Since belt-tightening at every level of government is likely to continue, state lawmakers as well as local administrators and boards will have to make sure that... they don't shortchange low-income kids."

"I read something recently that stunned me, and it was this sentence from a text called, 'The Myth of American Exceptionalism,' by Godfrey Hodgson: 'The United States is exceptional in its unwillingness to take children out of poverty.'"

"But research has found that those benefits can fade over time. A 2010 study of Head Start, a federally funded program for low-income children, found that early gains in literacy skills tapered off by the end of first grade."

"And federal budget cuts could take billions of dollars out of the federal Pell Grant program for low-income students as soon as next fall, forcing more students who previously have relied on grants to take out loans."

"Statewide data from the WKCE shows that more of the state's students are living in poverty, according to the number of free or reduced-price meals. Overall, 40.6 percent of Wisconsin students are from low-income families, according to the DPI."

"Founders said then that their mission was 'trying to make sure those kids come out of the starting blocks with an equal chance.' Today, 95 percent of Gordon Parks students are from low-income households."

"The number of children identified as homeless in Thurston County's eight school districts grew 56 percent from the 2006-07 school year through 2009-10, school figures show. And increasingly, families are turning to their schools for help when they lose their homes."