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"Officials across the country, including Mayor Bill de Blasio of New York, are looking to efforts like those in New Jersey as they seek to broaden access to free, full-day prekindergarten. President Obama embraced the policy last year, and politicians in several states, including Maryland, Texas and Washington, are considering ambitious expansions."

"Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo on Tuesday unveiled a budget plan containing a glittering prize for Mayor Bill de Blasio: money for the prekindergarten classes that he had made a centerpiece of his insurgent bid for mayor."

"According to the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), the current federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour. There's a movement afoot by a few who want to double that minimum to $15 hour."

"The portion of St. Lawrence County school-age students living below the federal poverty level ranges from a low of 16 percent in the Canton Central School District to a high of 36 percent at Hermon-DeKalb Central, according to a Buffalo-based business magazine."

"The state offers 60,000 vouchers for children in struggling public schools each year, and fewer than one-third were used this school year. In June, as part of the state budget bill, the Legislature created 2,000 vouchers for low-income kindergartners across the state. Slightly more than half of those were claimed."

"Growing up poor has long been associated with reduced educational attainment and lower lifetime earnings. Some evidence also suggests a higher risk of depression, substance abuse and other diseases in adulthood. Even for those who manage to overcome humble beginnings, early-life poverty may leave a lasting mark, accelerating aging and increasing the risk of degenerative disease in adulthood."

"Launched in the District in 2010, Reading Partners received a $25,000 grant in June from The Washington Post Charities, a McCormick Foundation Fund dedicated to increasing the educational opportunities available to disadvantaged children and teens in the Washington region."

"Brown lives on $7,000 annually from Social Security and gets $15 a month in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly called food stamps. She gets by barely. But she's looking for a part-time job."

"A rather startling calculation came recently via the Sioux Falls School District: Almost half of the students in the city's schools qualify for free or reduced lunches. That means almost every other student in class lives in a family poor enough to qualify for financial assistance from the federal school lunch program."

"Advocacy groups held the 24th annual People's State of the State on Tuesday, pushing for an end to income inequality, more money for schools and aid to lower homelessness."