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"The South Carolina Progressive Network plans to focus its get-out-the-vote efforts this year on the 176,530 people who didn't get health care coverage because the state's political leaders turned down federal Medicaid expansion. Using voter registration information and census data, the network came up with estimates on the number of registered voters in each county denied government-provided health care because the state turned down Medicaid expansion. The 176,530 statewide includes 12,018 in Richland County, 2,888 in Lexington County and 1,914 in Kershaw County."

"Certainly, poverty has a large impact on the conditions in which children grow up, and how they perform in school. Gains in education are positively correlated with income. Studies of Michigan in particular examine the bottom half of this relationship, with reports on the State of the Detroit Child annually showing that those who never graduated high school are much more likely to live in poverty than those with at least a high school diploma. With nearly a quarter of Michigan's children living in poverty and with even higher rates in urban areas like Detroit, the challenges posed by socioeconomic disparities are real and relevant to the conversation surrounding education in our state."

"Gov. Mike Beebe's spokesman, Matt DeCample, called the preliminary rates great news for the state.' He credited the so-called private option, which uses Medicaid dollars to buy coverage for low-income adults on the insurance exchange, with adding more young, healthy people to insurance companies' plans, thus lowering the insurers' risk. Arkansas Surgeon General Joe Thompson agreed. About 65 percent of private option enrollees are younger than age 44, compared with 38 percent of those in non-Medicaid plans, he said. Thompson said the preliminary rates show that insurance companies overshot what they thought the risk was' in setting their initial rates for this year."

"Louisiana's high-profile school voucher program made a C on a national report card Wednesday, ranking seventh among 15 states. The report by the Center for Education Reform faulted Louisiana for imposing "excessively burdensome" financial requirements and state tests on schools, and for restricting eligibility to low-income students from low-performing school systems. Louisiana tied with Florida in the rankings. Indiana, Ohio and Wisconsin earned an A; North Carolina, Arizona and the District of Columbia, B."

"In the results of the 30-year study and in his new book based on it, 'The Long Shadow: Family Background, Disadvantaged Urban Youth, and the Transition to Adulthood,' Alexander finds that things that were supposed to be great equalizers like economic opportunity and education weren't proving to be so equalizing."

"School is back in session, and many impoverished parents in Alabama who struggle to keep food on the table can breathe a sigh of relief. Children once again, if needed, can eat a free or reduced-price cafeteria meal. But not all working poor families qualify for help. Alabama has one of the highest rates of food-insecure households with children. Nearly one third of the state's 1 million children often can't be sure dinner will be served. And the bad numbers on food insecurity show no sign of letting up, as unemployment creeps higher, particularly in north Alabama, where thousands of manufacturing jobs have been lost in recent months."

"For the 16 million American children living below the federal poverty line, the start of a new school year should be reason to celebrate. Summer is no vacation when your parents are working multiple jobs or looking for one. Many kids are left to fend for themselves in neighborhoods full of gangs, drugs and despair. Given the hardships at home, poor kids might be expected to have the best attendance records, if only for the promise of a hot meal and an orderly classroom. But it doesn't usually work out that way. According to the education researchers Robert Balfanz and Vaughan Byrnes at Johns Hopkins, children living in poverty are by far the most likely to be chronically absent from school (which is generally defined as missing at least 10 percent of class days each year)."

"It's time once again for communal hand-wringing over the fact that the state Supreme Court still hasn't ruled in the 21-year-old lawsuit alleging that South Carolina has deprived children in the Corridor of Shame of the 'minimally adequate' public education that our constitution requires."

"Other programs recommended by the plan involve community building efforts, such as connecting different generations in communal projects and cultural events, linking youths with positive peer groups and sponsoring social activities in areas with the highest concentration of social welfare case loads and community violence. The plan also envisions engaging businesses in economic rehabilitation of neighborhoods and providing living-wage jobs for community residents."

"The Southbridge schools are participating in a federal government-sponsored universal meal program called the Community Eligibility Provision, the latest opportunity for schools with high percentages of low-income children to provide free breakfast and lunch to all students. Qualifying schools must have at least 40 percent of their students either in foster care, Head Start, or are confirmed as homeless, migrant or living in households that receive Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, federal Temporary Assistance for Needy Families cash assistance, or Food Distribution on Indian Reservation benefits. The meals program is a result of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, and it was phased in by the U.S. Department of Agriculture over three years."

"The rising percentage of Kansas children who receive free or reduced-price lunches at school is a genuine trend linked to poverty, not a ploy to boost school funding, the Kansas Association of School Boards said Monday. In an eight-page report, the association's researchers analyzed the increase in Kansas schools of children who qualify for free or reduced lunch based on family incomes."

"The students -- largely low income and minority -- face a serious obstacle once they set foot on the community college campus. Many score poorly on Accuplacer, the national English-and-math placement exam given by most community college, and are therefore forced to spend precious time and money in remedial classes. Students often run short on funds and patience and wind up living school without the requisite degree or skills."