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"The concept of an assistance program for cash-strapped seniors on fixed incomes has been advocated by Councilwoman Carmen Ramirez, who suggested the idea when the council approved utility rate increases last year."

"Dr. Ramesh Raghavan, a child mental-health services researcher at Washington University and an expert in prescription drug use among low-income children, said there are circumstances in which prescribing medication is a doctor's only recourse to help a child struggling in school.But he added that society should not force doctors into those situations, and should make available other methods to improve school environments and help families and children who are finding it difficult to thrive academically."

"Comcast launched the Digital Connectors Program in 2009 with the goal of helping young adults, particularly from low-income families, learn about computers and software, and pass the knowledge on to others in their communities. Each high school student in the program must agree to donate 57 hours of volunteer time by leading classes, tutoring students and otherwise sharing their knowledge. The classes are taught at the computer center, which opened in June 2010 with a grant from the U.S. Department of Commerce."

"It's the latest sign that the District is on track to become a city where a majority of children are educated not in traditional public schools but in public charters: A California nonprofit group has proposed opening eight D.C. charter schools that would enroll more than 5,000 students by 2019. The proposal has stirred excitement among those who believe that Rocketship Education, which combines online learning and face-to-face instruction, can radically raise student achievement in some of the city's poorest neighborhoods."

"A 2010 study by the Homeless Research Institute, an arm of the National Alliance to End Homelessness, projected that the number of elderly people who are homeless would increase by 33 percent, from 44,172 in 2010 to 58,772 by 2020, and would double to 95,000 by 2050."

"Called Pathways in Technology Early College High School, or P-TECH, the school preps students for tech jobs at IBM with starting salaries of about $40,000. The first of its kind in America, the grade 9-14 school employs a curriculum mapped backward from workplace needs at IBM to help low-income kids beat a dreary pile of statistics that show students from poor neighborhoods especially black males face long odds for finishing high school and getting into college."

"A new study has unexpected good news for New Orleans' education system: Several high-poverty neighborhoods are sending a relatively low number of children to kindergarten who are considered developmentally vulnerable,' according to data released this week by the Orleans Public Education Network."

"The United Way of Lake County recently released a study it says proves its local programs for low-income preschoolers ready them for kindergarten. The study, conducted by the United Way of Lake County -- which serves communities across the county through its Gurnee office -- found that of a sample size in one target area, 41 percent of preschool-age children there were ready to start kindergarten last year. Officials said those numbers represent a nearly seven-fold increase from 2006."

Topic(s): Education

"The UW System has made progress in narrowing the success gap between white students and minority students. But the gap has widened between low-income students and those not eligible for federal Pell grants, which provide needs-based grants to low-income undergraduates."

"As part of Wisconsin's new public-school accountability system, a new list from the state Department of Public Instruction intends to recognize schools with significant numbers of low-income students but also high state test scores, or a track record of improving scores in math and reading."

"The youngest residents of Newark will be getting an influx of the city's Facebook challenge grant money that's aimed at boosting early childhood development, Newark Mayor Cory Booker and community leaders announced today. The $250,000 matching grant comes as part of the overall push to transform public education in the state's largest city, kicked off by the $100 million challenge gifted by Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg."