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"Oak Hills High School students are raising awareness about hunger and homelessness, and taking action to help those in need in our community. Students are taking part in several projects this month to learn about hunger issues and homelessness and ways they can help."

"Lincoln Elementary and High School and Mindoro Elementary School each received a Wisconsin School of Recognition award a Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction honor that recognizes schools with high poverty rates but exceed achievement benchmarks. Lincoln Elementary and High School each were named 'beating the odds' schools, which are in the top 25 percent of high-poverty schools in the state and have above-average student achievement in reading and mathematics when compared to similar schools."

"A new partnership between Union County College and Kean University will work to bolster the success of Hispanic and low-income students in science, engineering, technology and math, with support from a $3.25 million federal grant. Officials from both schools Monday announced the collaborative effort, which creates a joint-admissions program between the two institutions in hopes of improving retention, graduation and transfer rates for a student population they said is underrepresented in the sciences."

"Today, more people than ever are going to college, yet the nation's overall college graduation rate has remained low. Only 59 percent of students who began as freshmen at a four-year college in the fall of 2006 received their diplomas within six years. Meanwhile, the high school completion rate reached a historic high: In 2012, four out of five students graduated high school within four years. College students who come from low-income backgrounds, such as Kellam, 19, see the least chance of college success. They are less likely to begin college, less likely to finish."

"Schools in the Washington region spend wildly different amounts on students per pupil, and districts vary a lot in how much extra they spend on low-income students. While more spending doesn't guarantee better quality, the discrepancies raise basic questions of fairness."

"In their annual Opportunity Index, the national campaign Opportunity Nation and Measure of America found that high school graduation rates are up, more adults are going to college and unemployment has dropped drastically since 2011. But poverty rates across the board are essentially unchanged since 2011, and nearly 1 in 7 people between the ages of 16 and 24 are considered disconnected youth, in limbo between school and work."

"Educated poor kids are in the exact opposite position. Many attend second- or third-rate (and possibly for-profit) colleges that churn out less-than-useful degrees. And instead of a floor propping them up, their families and friends can act like an anchor pulling them down. A classic example: a college-educated woman who goes home and marries a boyfriend who never made it past high school and has trouble holding down a job. America's lack of class mobility is still largely a problem of education. As of now, low-income kids have low high-school graduation rates, rarely go to college, and tend not to finish when they do, all of which keeps them out of the middle class."

"Our country apparently doesn't want low-income Americans to have free access to birth control, either by compelling all insurance plans to offer it or by adequately funding public reproductive health programs. In many schools -- predominantly located in low-income, high-teen-pregnancy areas -- we don't even teach kids how contraception works. We also don't want them to have easy access to abortions when they inevitably get pregnant because they're not using birth control, with states such as Texas and Mississippi trying to shutter their few remaining abortion clinics."

"In San Francisco's public schools, the homeless student population nearly tripled during the past 10 years: 844 in the 2004-05 school year compared to last school year's 2,352, according to data from the San Francisco Unified School District. For the past five school years, more than 2,000 students were registered as homeless, including this year's count of 2,094."

"A report released last week by the Public Policy Institute of California, a nonpartisan think tank, found that grants and scholarships have failed to keep up with rising costs of higher education. The total cost of attending college increased as prices for books, fees, room, board and other living expenses rose. The study found that aid to students has not kept pace with these additional costs and that more low-income students may be unable to cover the price of higher education."

"For seven years, the Long Beach Community Action Partnership has provided opportunities for low-income youths to receive training in fields such as digital photography and music production. Through the partnership's Leadership Academy & Mentoring Program (LAMP), middle and high school students study subjects in highly specialized fields in courses taught by industry professionals. Each semester, up to 50 students are accepted into the after-school program, and many of them have gone on to enter careers in arts and entertainment, according to Darick Simpson, the partnership's executive director."

"Adults 17 and older receive literacy support and financial education through Santa Maria Community Services� Evening GED Program, which won a $10,000 grant from The Donald C. and Laura M. Harrison Family Foundation. Through Santa Maria�s Workforce Development initiative, the Evening GED Program offers General Education Development preparation classes four evenings a week throughout the year at no charge to anyone in need. [��_] ���By combining literacy education and financial and employment services in this GED program, we can help move families out of poverty,� says H.A. Musser, Santa Maria President and CEO. ���With this program and the supporting grant, we�re helping our clients meet the ultimate empowering goal of self-sufficiency, helping people to help themselves and help their families. We are very grateful for the support of the Harrison Family Foundation for our programs.�"