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"The Multimedia Youth Arts Contest was established by the human development campaign, an anti-poverty organization, in 2001 to help students learn about poverty and work toward a solution. 'We don't just want to teach kids that poverty is a problem,' Olsen said. 'We want them think of solutions, that's why we want them making art about it.'"

"Children from low-income families -- who make up about 80% of L.A. Unified students -- are less likely to eat breakfast, according to the California Food Policy Advocates. Some parents may not be able to afford the food; others may leave for work too early to make breakfast for their children."

"If you're a kid on the streets, jumping from shelter to couch to doorway each night, a square meal isn't likely a part of your regular diet. That's exactly why the young leaders at Wind Youth Services all of them formerly homeless put nutrition at the top of their list of health topics to teach the vulnerable teens who spend their days there."

"Meeting the needs of minorities and students in poverty who are not reaching the same academic targets as their peers remains the chief challenge facing San Luis Obispo County school districts."

"It is open to those aged 55 or older, who live in the designated service area, and are certified by the state as eligible for nursing home care, Marshall said.The program is designed to help those who would otherwise qualify for nursing home placement under the federal Medicaid program, a healthcare program that aids low-income clients."

"Results from the math and reading scores are used in the federal No Child Left Behind Act to judge whether districts are making adequate yearly progress. Groups of students are segregated -- such as minorities or those from low-income families -- to ensure that all students' progress is measured."

"In addition to disabled adults, the rollback in funding affects the homeless, people with mental-health and substance-abuse problems, HIV patients needing hospice care, children aging out of foster care, and those in the city-run nursing home."

"'The big picture is that the unemployment rate for recent college graduates, 23- and 24-year-olds, is around 8 or 9 percent,' he said. 'If you are a high school graduate, it's about 24 percent, and 36 percent for a high school dropout. 'The reality is that you are far better off if you have a college degree.'"

"Scroggins said the nonprofit received a record high 48,000 applicants this year for 5,800 positions. Teach for America recruits commit two years to teach at schools that serve impoverished students."

"What the tests really show is a student's socioeconomic level. Every year when the test results are released, schools with a higher percentage of students who receive free or reduced lunches do worse than those with a smaller percentage. The dirty little secret about the test is that it exposes that the poverty rate for children is more than 23 percent in the United States."

"On the other side, most liberals, labor unions and advocacy groups for the elderly oppose any reduction of benefits, such as raising the retirement age, eliminating benefits for the wealthy or creating private accounts. The National Committee to Preserve Social Security & Medicare says these kinds of reforms would dismantle the program and be detrimental to low-income workers, minorities and women."

"More students are living in non-traditional families and are, by regulatory definition, classified as homeless, said Waupun interim Superintendent Donald Childs. Waupun's free and reduced-lunch population is now above 40 percent in both the primary and intermediate schools, and the district average is above 37 percent."