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"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."

"The governor's plan, known as the Local Control Funding formula,' directs additional funds to students with the greatest need low-income students, English learners and foster youth. But one portion of the plan, known as the concentration grant,' allocates additional funds to districts in which 50 percent of the student population qualifies as being educationally disadvantaged."

"Like much of the nation, Ohio has slashed enrollment and funding in public preschool for children in low-income families, according to a report released today. State aid for preschool dropped by more than half a billion dollars in the 2011-2012 school year, the largest one-year drop ever, found the study by the National Institute for Early Education Research which has tracked state pre-kindergarten programs since 2002."

"For us, 2012 was all about trying to tilt some of the MOOC attention toward the more novice learner, the low-income and first-generation students,' he said. And 2013 is about blending MOOCs into college courses where there is additional support, and students can get credit. While some low-income young adults can benefit from what I call the free-range MOOCs, the research suggests that most are going to need more scaffolding, more support.'"

"That pattern of poor performance was compounded by the fact that what little growth school districts enjoyed accrued heavily to higher-income and white students, not to the low-income and minority students who were supposed to benefit. Closing schools neither improved student outcomes nor saved districts money, and even the strong charters in these three cities delivered more mixed benefits than commonly reported."

"At a news conference in Washington to unveil the report, Arne Duncan, the secretary of education, said children from low-income families start kindergarten an average of 12 to 14 months behind their wealthier peers in language development and pre-reading skills. That is morally and educationally unacceptable,' he said. And from a long-term economic competitiveness standpoint, it is just plain dumb.'"

Sherece Y. West-Scantlebury, Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation

"The advisers are recent college graduates who get training and set up shop in high schools with large percentages of low-income students. The advisers connect with students who have the potential to succeed in college and help them take the steps to get there."