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"But in other ways, the city is failing its students and its best teachers. In DCPS,' the study concludes, highly rated teachers are much less likely to teach in schools with high concentrations of poverty than in other schools, and that disparity is greater than what we found in other districts.' Top teachers make up 42 percent of the lowest poverty school faculties but only 11 percent in the highest poverty schools."

"An early childhood education expert testified Tuesday that Texas is not doing a good job preparing low-income youngsters for school. High-quality pre-K programs help close the achievement gap and put low-income students in the game. You give them a shot,' W. Steven Barnett testified in the school funding lawsuit against Texas."

"The Asheville City Schools Foundation recently received the largest gift in the organization's history. A couple who wish to remain anonymous have given $100,000 to the foundation to strengthen current programs and to serve as matching gifts for the next three years. This gift will be divided among the current and next two fiscal years as a part of the organization's Changing Futures' theme. This year's portion of the gift will help fund a full-time volunteer to work at the Asheville City Schools preschool to work with the more than 100 children in poverty there."

"Schools in Arlington Heights-based Township High School District 214 fell short of federal standards, but leaders stress students continue to perform well according to other measures. None of the district's six traditional high schools achieved adequate yearly progress as set by the federal No Child Left Behind Act. The district has 12,300 students, 23 percent of whom are considered low income, according to a state report card released Oct. 31."

"Charter schools educate a smaller proportion of metro Atlanta's impoverished students than the public school systems in which those charters are located, a new analysis by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution shows."

"Metro schools are unusual in the high number of low-income students they serve, Kindall said, adding that research proves poverty has a big impact on education. But Kindall also says the school system hasn't focused the proper amount of energy on the problem."

"Yet changes to the core mission of California's community colleges threaten that role. State efforts to ease overcrowding and help colleges adapt to budget cuts are backfiring in rural districts already burdened by vast territories, withered economies, high poverty rates and dwindling populations. Rather than serving lifelong learners,' the state's 112 colleges have been directed to focus on students seeking to acquire such basic skills as English, transfer to four-year schools or earn associate degrees or certificates."

"While we wonder what should be done about our region's most demanding public high school - Thomas Jefferson- having only 3 percent of its students from poor families, let's consider a different experiment in selective education. What if we created a school that gave as challenging an academic experience as Jefferson's to a student body that was 100 percent low-income?"

"As things stand, the state does not fund pre-kindergarten for Louisiana children the way it does primary and secondary school. Parents above a certain income level generally have to pay for it on their own and a variety of different programs offer subsidies for providers that cater to low-income students, including the federal government's Head Start program and the state's LA4 Early Childhood Program. In all, the Department of Education estimates that 42,000 4-year-olds from low-income families are enrolled in one of these programs in Louisiana, out of a total of about 44,000."

"This simple concept has been working wonders for years: Pave the road to success for low-income and at-risk youth by promising to pay for college. Ensure that commitment with a student's pledge to keep up good grades, obey the law and join a mentoring program. Take Stock in Children does exactly as its name implies, investing in the next generation of American citizens."

"Start Making a Reader Today, or SMART, has given away 2 million books to at-risk children in the past two decades. The nonprofit seeks volunteers to read one-on-one with children around the state."

"The district is listed as having 100 percent poverty, since the state uses free or reduced lunch eligibility as its measure. Gordon said that not every Cleveland student is poor, but the district and federal government stop measuring once they hit the point where the entire district qualifies. Even at the 85 percent qualifying rate, Cleveland has poverty rates far above the 53 percent countywide, 43 percent statewide and even above the 82 percent in Columbus and 70 percent in Cincinnati."