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"A new effort announced Friday by state and federal health agencies aims to better coordinate medical care, and costs for that care, for low-income elderly in South Carolina."

"To get a better grasp on the number of homeless students in Massachusetts, one lawmaker wants the state education commissioner to conduct an annual review of school districts' implementation of the McKinney-Vento Act, which is aimed at ensuring that homeless children are enrolled and served in schools."

"To get a better grasp on the number of homeless students in Massachusetts, one lawmaker wants the state education commissioner to conduct an annual review of school districts' implementation of the McKinney-Vento Act, which is aimed at ensuring that homeless children are enrolled and served in schools."

"The country's recent economic woes are still being felt in the classroom: The number of homeless American elementary and high school students has hit an all-time high, according to a new federal study released Thursday."

Commentary: David Cooper and Elise Gould, Economic Policy Institute

"Nearly two decades ago, a landmark study found that by age 3, the children of wealthier professionals have heard words millions more times than those of less educated parents, giving them a distinct advantage in school and suggesting the need for increased investment in prekindergarten programs."

"Americans have now reversed that decline by going to school in unprecedented numbers. In 2011, there were 3.2 million more people enrolled in higher education than there were in 2006. This 18 percent increase in enrollment was the largest such jump since the end of the Vietnam War."

"A majority of students in public schools throughout the American South and West are low-income for the first time in at least four decades, according to a new study that details a demographic shift with broad implications for the country."

"A 2011 study conducted by the National Foundation to End Senior Hunger found that 15.2 percent (or 8.8 million) of seniors in the U.S. face the threat of hunger every day."

"Children from the lower economic strata of society may not be hampered by poverty as much as they are by lack of paren-tal, teaching and corporate support, as well as bad decisions made by some politicians, judges and legislators. I am appalled by decisions to uproot children from their home schools and send them by bus many miles away to non-failing' schools in more advantageous environments."

"Hauppauge residents' concerns about a homeless shelter that has added 10 children to a district school are prompting a Suffolk lawmaker to push for legislation to end the county's agreement with the shelter."

"But like many American elderly, Jones is now struggling without a paycheck. Her tiny pension and Social Security income can't save her from a crushing poverty that could soon have her living on the streets."