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"Anastasia Ibrahim, 15, was one of nearly 100 volunteers honored recently by Family Service Association of Redlands. In February 2011, Anastasia, a student at Redlands High School, founded a tutoring program at Family Service for homeless and low- income children."

"Almost 100,000 elderly and disabled New York City residents receive home care through Medicaid, but only a very small number receive care at the level Serrano does. Those ranks have declined by 25 percent in the last two years, from about 1,300 people to 1,000. City officials say the drop is due not to budgetary pressures but to state and federal orders to more stringently evaluate all cases."

"Yet a new report shows that funding across the country by states has declined over the past two years to the tune of about $90 million even though enrollment has increased. What's more, a number of states don't even fund early pre-K programs."

"The state Department of Education put New Jersey's most troubled schools on notice Wednesday, ordering administrators and educators to cooperate with state intervention and improve student performance or face serious consequences."

"The Wake County school system's new student assignment plan is built around the word 'choice,' but letting families pick their schools means the system must also adjust for lopsided outcomes. Popular schools now have triple-digit waiting lists, while others are begging for more applicants, and some face a sharp rise in low income students."

"'Children of poverty do not have a choice of where they go to school. They are zoned for those schools.' Critics, including Henry Mabry, executive secretary of the Alabama Education Association, said charter schools would divert funding from already poorly funded districts.

"It explains that 'the welfare reforms of the 1990s, despite their success, were never extended beyond cash welfare to other means-tested programs.' It proposes to extend the welfare reform model to Medicaid, food stamps and other unnamed 'low-income assistance programs.'"

"In addition to an already difficult financial forecast, Ms. Lane said she learned on a recent trip to Harrisburg that the district probably will receive $2 million less in federal Title 1 money aimed at helping the math and reading achievement of low-income students."

"Fifty-two percent of the increase in school aid in fiscal 2013 is for general operating aid, and 76% of that will go to high-needs school districts, defined as those with high rates of poverty relative to the district's wealth, analysts said."

"Even among supporters, there's dissension over whether vouchers should only be offered to low-income students on a limited basis or made available to anyone. There's also division among black and Hispanic leaders as to whether vouchers help or hurt kids in urban schools."

" But in the past 30 years, teachers have discovered the power of the courses and exams to change the lives of poor children. Last year, according to the College Board, 375,439 low-income students took 615,315 AP exams - 23 percent of the total taken."

"Northwest Youth Services was able to obtain a small windfall for its new shelter for homeless youth, despite dwindling federal support for housing programs."