Minnesota

"McCormack gets paid $11 an hour through the In-Home Supportive Services Program, which pays family members and other caregivers to help about 467,000 enrollees with such things as housecleaning, bathing, grocery shopping and laundry so they can stay at home rather than move to a nursing home or other care facility. A poll by the Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research shows that less than one-third of Californians age 40 and over have heard of the program, which dates back to the 1950s."

"Minnesota is taking aim at social and institutional forces that put the least-experienced and least-qualified teachers in the state's neediest schools. Majority-white schools in Minnesota have half as many nontenured teachers as schools with large numbers of black, Asian, Hispanic or American Indian students, according to the Department of Education. Low-income, low-performing and especially charter schools also have high percentages of early-career teachers and those who are not fully licensed."

"Students whose parents have an income of less than $30,000 may receive a financial aid package to cover 111% of tuition and fees at the University of Minnesota next year, according to a budget proposal presented by University President Eric Kaler at a Board of Regents meeting on June 11, 2015."

"With a $2 billion budget surplus and a ranking in pre-K access that continually lags other states, Minnesota could find no better time to make the necessary investments to reach its stated goal that all children are school-ready at kindergarten entry."

"Scholarships can be used at school-based programs. But scholarships also can be used at high-quality early-education programs operating out of centers, churches, nonprofit organizations and homes many of which are located in low-income areas. Scholarships are a both/and solution."