Idaho

"Idaho struggles with the image that it appears at the bottom of many data rankings when it comes to education, and there is another data set to add to the list. The Annie E. Casey Foundation shows Idaho at No. 47 for preschool participation, and Canyon County's numbers are even lower than the state as a whole."

"The same is true at other schools around Boise where the city's Department of Parks and Recreation sends its two Mobile Rec vans and crews to play games, hand out snacks and lead art activities. The program is reserved for schools where at least half the students receive federally subsidized lunches because they are in low-income families."

"Idaho Core Standards, tougher requirements for what students should learn, could cause a drop in student proficiency on tests and widen the gap between struggling and successful learners."

"One of the most important, and least considered, factors influencing what happens in classrooms is what happens in lunchrooms. That's because lunchrooms are where a school's relationship to the socioeconomic realities of its community are most glaringly apparent. As much as we argue over myriad issues surrounding education from testing to charter schools to teachers unions there is an insurmountable truth in the lunchroom: Impoverished children bring massive challenges into schools. Many of the problems that have been identified as school failures stem as much from poverty as anything."

"That poverty exists and is growing is indicated by increasing numbers of students receiving free and discounted meals in Idaho schools. Yet, compared with other countries, American students are far better off. The problem is that young people might equate poverty with lacking a better house or some material possession their classmates have. I contend that poverty is not the lack of material things but the lack of dreams. When young people have a dream to pursue, lack of material resources becomes secondary."