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"The Obama administration recently released a draft framework to help students assess the affordability of colleges and their accessibility to low-income students based, in part, by the number of Pell Grant recipients the institution enrolls. This comes one month after The Morning Call published a story about area colleges and their commitment to access based on Pell Grant eligibility of students."

"Michigan's poorest college students are bearing the brunt of cost increases at some state public universities, decreasing the chances Michigan's most vulnerable students will earn degrees. Over a recent four-year period, six of the state's 15 public universities increased the net cost of attendance for their poorest students those from families earning less than $30,000 a year more than for their wealthier classmates."

"Wealthy individuals and corporations have an opportunity to do good this year while they do well, thanks to a new and little-known tax break. Two laws by Senate President Pro Tem Kevin de Len provide College Access Tax Credits for contributions to the popular Cal Grants program that helps low-income students. These new tax credits are reserved for contributions to so-called Cal Grant B awards that help pay for books, housing and transportation while students attend community colleges or four-year schools. Contributors in turn can use the credits to reduce their state and federal income tax bills."

"Though the Wichita school district has about 10 percent of the state's public school students, it has nearly a quarter of the state's homeless students. And the number of those students in USD 259 and the state has been soaring. Meanwhile, Gov. Sam Brownback and GOP legislative leaders are hoping to circumvent a court order to increase state funding for K-12 schools."

"These interventions could send a significant number of low-income, high ability students to the nation's top colleges, they find. At the same time, their study found that many of the undermatched students have incorrect images of liberal arts colleges and, to some extent, flagship universities, that may deter them from enrolling at these institutions."

"News about the present and future of American K-12 education continues to be discouraging. But a series of effective out-of-school programs is creating a glimmer of hope. If we focus on these, thousands of children can be salvaged from a broken system."

"The challenges of navigating the winter months as a low-income senior are immense. For 6.3 million older adults in the United States, wintertime stretches the term "fixed income" into a reality of fixed poverty. For increasing numbers of seniors who face the multifaceted vulnerabilities of poverty even during the sunniest of days, the winter can cost more than many can afford."

"When it comes to learning to read, educators agree: the younger, the better. Children can be exposed to books even before they can talk, but for that a family has to have books, which isn't always the case. There are neighborhoods in this country with plenty of books; and then there are neighborhoods where books are harder to find. Almost 15 years ago, Susan Neuman, now a professor at New York University, focused on that discrepancy, in a study that looked at just how many books were available in Philadelphia's low-income neighborhoods. The results were startling."

"Students who are black, poor or both represent a large percentage of those receiving out-of-school suspensions, according to data collected by Columbia Public Schools. School officials acknowledged there have been times when black or low-income students have received different treatment than students who aren't black or low-income. But district leaders say programs designed to address that disparity are starting to bring equity to student discipline."

"After decades of pushing to close the achievement gap between high- and low-income students, the level of post-secondary attainment for economically disadvantaged students remains abysmally low. Less than a third of our nation's poorest students enroll in college, and of those who do, only 32 percent graduate by age 25. Underrepresented students many of whom are poor, come from underserved schools and are the first in their families to pursue education beyond high school also are behind their white peers. Four in 10 Americans have earned a bachelor's degree by their mid-20s, but for African Americans, the number is three in 10, and for Latinos, it's two in 10."

"News about the present and future of American K-12 education continues to be discouraging, but a series of effective out-of-school programs is creating a glimmer of hope. If we focus on these, thousands of children can be salvaged from a broken system."

"If this is the case, the Georgia Legislature can advance an important piece of the middle-class agenda: Increase the annual cap on income tax credits available for contributions to scholarship programs that fund private school options for K-12 students from low- and middle-income families."