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"As in other rankings, schools serving poorer students that did earn a top grade tended to be magnet schools or schools of choice. But neighborhood elementary schools with high poverty rates did perform better than secondary schools with similar populations in the survey."

"Since we began in 2005, 98percent of our scholars have graduated from four-year colleges within six years, compared with only 11percent of low-income, first-generation students nationally, according to a 2008 Pell study. Our scholars exemplify how earlier intervention, personal advising and academic support are essential to finding, gaining admittance to and succeeding in a best-fit college."

"Silvernail has led research on the topic of how schools can succeed despite poverty in the community or loss of funds. He said he viewed LePage's grading system as flawed because it didn't take into account funding levels, not that he thinks any school should be excused from excellence on that basis. Instead, he said measuring a school's efficiency, rather than just test scores and student achievement, would be more indicative of a school's performance."

"Sufficient funding is required so that all parents, including low-income parents, have access to high-quality programs for their children from birth to age 5. This means that we must sufficiently fund the Child Care Subsidy Program, which uses designated federal and state funds to help low-income parents pay for child care as they strive to enter and remain in the work force."

"The department says the goal is to provide a tool parents and community members can use to hold schools accountable for explaining academic performance, but that is already happening. The result is more likely to be that schools, largely from lower-income areas, are simply shamed. The grading system was not created with buy-in from districts."

"As the mosquito-borne West Nile virus makes its return to North Texas this spring, free insect repellent is being offered to low-income senior citizens in Dallas County."

"A child's destiny should not be determined by her zip code. Massachusetts has been a leader in public education reform for nearly two decades, but persistent poverty- and race-based achievement gaps in low-income communities are reminders that we have not done enough to meet our commitment to offer educational opportunity to every young person in the Commonwealth. These inequalities persist under our watch despite clear policy options that work but are not available in every community where they are needed."

"A measure that limits the state's preschool program mainly to 4-year-olds from families who live at or below poverty passed a House committee Tuesday, despite a mother's plea that the tighter restriction would exclude children in need."

"With the population growing older, mental health experts warned Monday of a coming tsunami of behavioral health care needs among elderly homeless people."

Deepak Bhargava, Center for Community Change

"Children in New Jersey's poorest cities have benefited from a 1998 state Supreme Court mandate requiring the state to offer free preschool to all 3- and 4-year-olds in those cities. Some low-income children outside those urban areas have access, too, but advocates have expressed frustration that the state's plans to expand preschools have stalled despite parents' demands."

"They want to restrict the program to the poorest children in our state, leaving thousands of low-income working families, who are currently eligible for N.C. Pre-K, unable to afford pre-kindergarten for their children. Pre-kindergarten, and education in general, is an investment in our future workforce that should be spread broadly across our state."