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"Time Warner is working with nine school districts and about 30 charter schools, appealing to families of low-income students with offers of Internet connections for $9.95 a month. Families that relocate will obtain Internet service at their new address at no added cost. That's important in districts where students and parents move often."

"We need to re-vision our approach to education. Rather than looking to the school, we must look at the individual child. Children of poverty are not a homogeneous group. The differences among them render externally imposed programs meaningless. The focus must be on the life circumstances and learning needs of our young people, both now and in the future. Based on this analysis, we must provide specific supports to ensure that each child is successful."

"Florida also focused on preparing all students for college by becoming a national leader in giving low-income students access to Advanced Placement (AP) classes and encouraging them to take college entrance exams. Last year, SAT scores for Florida's African American and Hispanic students increased even as they stagnated in most of the country."

"Seniors may have the lowest poverty rates these days, but they've got the loudest voice in the debate about where our scarce public money should go and whose ox should be gored. As Portland senior Kit Hogan put it, We deserve what we have. Pick on someone else.'"

Commentary: Robert Giloth, the Annie E. Casey Foundation

"After years of increases, the poverty rate in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools held steady this year at 54 percent, virtually unchanged from last fall. Almost 78,000 of the 143,600 students in preK-12 qualify for lunch subsidies to low-income families, used nationally to gauge student poverty levels."

"There were about 12,400 homeless students in Jefferson County Public Schools during the 2011-2012 school year. That amounted to about 13 percent of all students and a 21 percent increase from the prior year, according to the housing coalition. The school district's figures show about 100 fewer homeless students, with the difference attributed to students who didn't finish the school year in the system."

"When poverty levels and student segregation are taken into account, the U.S. education system is shown to be among the very best in the world. The proportion of children in the U.S. living in poverty is above 20 percent; in Texas, it is above 25 percent. But in Finland, the poverty rate is below 5 percent. There is practically no poverty at all in Singapore because most low-wage jobs there are filled by residents of nearby countries whose children don't take tests in Singapore. Some countries segregate students into college and vocational tracks with only the college-bound included in the tests."

"Haycock said Collier's student demographics are more acute than the rest of the country. Of Collier's 43,247 students, about 44 percent are Hispanic and 12 percent are black. About 60 percent of Collier's students are low-income. About 47 percent come from homes in which English isn't the first language."

"Residents will receive mental and health services from the San Fernando Valley Community Health Center and Northeast Valley Health Corp. A case manager will be on-site to help residents find activities through partnerships with area public and nonprofit agencies and faith communities. The five-story LEED Silver certified apartment already houses seniors age 55 and older who are considered very low income. Thirty of the units are reserved for seniors who are homeless and mentally ill at the time they enter housing."

"The tax-credit scholarship is one of Florida's five scholarships. It strives to give low-income students access to the same learning options now available to more affluent families, via a $4,335 scholarship. This program complements other choice programs, such as magnet and charter schools, and is built on the truism that students learn in different ways."

"Head Start provides educational and health services to preschool age children from low-income families. SDC's $21 million program serves 3, 000 children at 33 sites, 10 run by the anti-poverty agency and the others run by delegates or community agencies. MPS currently has 1, 000 Head Start seats and a grant of $6 million funded through June 2013, district spokesman Tony Tagliavia said."