Ohio

"The program provides free meals to all students in schools in which 40 percent or more of the students receive food stamps or some other form of public aid. All three schools in Newport easily exceed that percentage. As a district, 86 percent are living at or below the federal poverty level."

"The spending-per-pupil statistic is often used to measure efficiency of school districts across Ohio, so when Chris Pfister saw that his small, low-income, rural district's number was higher than those of other nearby schools, he scratched his head."

"American students in grades one through nine reportedly lose one month of learning, on average, during a typical three-month summer break - which is often referred to as the "summer slide" - and research shows this loss is most pronounced in kids from low-income homes."

"There are more students who don't speak English than there were a decade ago. The percentage of special-needs students is also higher, and the number of students living in poverty has grown. All those types of students are more expensive to educate."

"The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Cincinnati has announced plans to create a staff position, development director, to oversee fundraising for Dayton's urban schools. The director, to be hired by August and paid with donated money, will help establish and perpetuate a fund to give low-income city kids access to a Catholic education."

"Cleveland Schools Director Martin Ringstaff said the city high school is seeking out students for advanced classes who may not traditionally have considered them, including minorities and those from low-income families."