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"As a single mother of three, Sylvia Fennell works two jobs to make ends meet....So when Fennell, 27, who lives in Chicago's Bronzeville community, first learned of a plan that would allow school districts to scale back the school week to four days, she panicked."

"'The government needs to take a look at what poverty means,' he said. 'It's so disheartening. Yes, we need cuts and revisions; I understand the state is in dire straits, but hitting the poor over the head again?'"

"Pennsylvania's eighth-grade average score was 268 in 2007, when the test was last given, and 265 in 2002. The eighth-grade groups in Pennsylvania that showed a gain since 2007 were female students and those who were not low income."

"...[P]rivate banks would no longer get fees from the government for acting as middlemen in loans to low- and middle-income college students. With those savings, the government would increase Pell Grants to needy students..."

"That's when the government begins providing tax credits to help people who can't otherwise afford to pay health insurance premiums. The aid will be available on a sliding scale to households making up to four times the federal poverty level..."

"Proponents of the measure say it will make college more affordable and save the federal government $61 billion over the next 10 years. It will also pump $36 million into Pell grants, which help low-income students go to school."

"It's clear some of Pasco's biggest challenges are beyond the school district's control.The statewide average of low-income students is 40 percent. In Pasco, that number is almost double, at 70 percent."

"For seniors (age 60 and older) to be eligible, your assets must be under $3,000, not counting your home, car, retirement or pension plans. And your 'net income' must be under the federal poverty guidelines, which is less than $903 per month for an individual..."

"With the right techniques and content knowledge, teachers can transform low-income urban students into high achievers, said Lemov, the former principal of the Academy of the Pacific Rim Charter School in Boston."

"The upshot is bound to be the emergence of schools where poverty is a common denominator. People who could afford it would flee any neighborhood served by schools with a high quotient of kids from poor families."

"The board is scheduled to give final approval to a resolution calling for the end of Wake's nationally recognized policy of trying to limit the percentage of low-income students at individual schools. The resolution calls for sending students to schools in their communities."

"The Social Security Act, providing pensions and other benefits to the elderly, is signed into law by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. National health insurance is left out of the final Social Security bill because of the opposition of organized medicine and its allies."