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"The chief targets of the LFT's wrath, as they have been for months, are two laws enacted earlier this year. One expanded Louisiana's voucher program from New Orleans only to a statewide choice for low-income students attending troubled public schools to switch to private and parochial schools at state expense."

"In a time of scarce federal funding, the University of Louisville will receive $3.3 million to grow a program for prepping low-income high schoolers for college. The Courier Journal reports the 46-year-old Upward Bound program aims to ready freshmen, sophomores and juniors from needy homes who would be the first in the family to pursue higher education."

"As state lawmakers and members of a Gov. Bill Haslam-appointed task force consider the scope of a possible school voucher program in Tennessee, talks aren't limited to using public dollars for private schooling. Rather, under one scenario designed to expand choice further, low-income students enrolled in struggling schools could attend higher-performing public schools across town, outside their home districts and - if need be - across county lines."

"We are watching millions of children fail to get the right beginning in life while some policymakers and talking heads bicker over federal spending for critical programs such as Head Start preschool. Head Start, a proven family and child development initiative that has helped millions of children start school right for close to 50 years, fails only in its inability to serve all eligible kids due to lack of sufficient resources. Universal pre-kindergarten is a critical step for Kentucky in erasing educational deficits at all socioeconomic levels, but it is particularly important for poor children."

"The Promise Neighborhood project already has received a $300,000 federal grant to start a neighborhood improvement plan, and organizers hope to capture a $30 million grant this year. If they do, the money will be used to bring together more than 20 service providers and government agencies to help the area's 2,000 children with more learning opportunities before kindergarten and outside of school. The Promise Neighborhood, one of the city's most distressed areas, is a 15-square-mile area in East Nashville where at least 68 percent of the children live in poverty."

"Teachers and education technicians, after-school enrichment programs, preschool for low-income children and vocational training for people with disabilities -- all are at risk if Congress and the White House can't agree on taxes and spending."

"Kids who came from families with a high standard of living populated the college prep, honors or Advanced Placement classes. Those who came from families considered low income were in the low-level classes that weren't preparing them for college. How could that be? It seemed statistically impossible that every single kid, because he or she came from a family without money, was intellectually deficient."

"Executive director Roberta Lamont said the role of a Family Partnership mentor is dual -- to be aware of available resources and options while serving as a support, sounding board and encouraging friend to the client. Our job is not to solve problems or fix their lives,' she said. The big piece is the relational match. Poverty can be very isolating. Someone may want to go on to college but be fearful of the unknown.'"

"The number of Central Florida students like Elian who are considered homeless has risen for a fifth straight year. Last school year, thousands more children were found living in hotels or shelters or crammed into homes with other families or neighbors, according to new data from the Department of Education."

"Since then, Lester has sought to use more effective and innovative methods to teach students in regions affected by violence, poverty and other problems. Now, students at the Richland campus and throughout the WSU system are applying those lessons in the Northwest with students whose hardships have inhibited their education."

"Of the 410 students on Para Los Ninos' elementary campus, 99% are Latino and 96% hail from low-income families. More than two-thirds of the students are not fluent in English. But the school is proving that demographics are not destiny. Its test scores are on par with many suburban public schools. And its curriculum relies on the sort of child-centered approach favored by progressive private schools with five-figure tuition."

"The Health Alliance used its grant to spearhead an initiative to convert medical records from paper to more efficient electronic versions at the Geneseo Parish Outreach Center, which provides health care to low-income residents in the area."