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"Iowa has always seen itself as a Norman Rockwell-poster kind of place, comfortably middle class with no extremes of wealth or poverty. That ideal is rapidly fading.The official rate of poverty in Iowa remains below the national average. It was 12.6 percent in 2010, compared to the national rate of 15.3. But the Iowa rate has been rising faster than the national rate. If the trend continues, Iowa will soon match or surpass the national average in poverty."

"But poverty can be a marker for other conditions that do affect learning: broken homes, single parenthood, homelessness, drug abuse, poor nutrition, untreated sickness, weak English, serial live-in boyfriends, fathers in prison, children left alone, poorly educated parents who can't help with homework or who disparage education."

"Southern New Jersey towns with the highest unemployment and poverty in the state will also be among the hardest hit by school-funding reforms proposed by the state Department of Education and Gov. Chris Christie."

"The sponsor of a bill that will create tax credits for contributions to private school scholarships wants Gov. Bob McDonnell to make sure the incentive is targeted to students from low-income families."

"Portland Public Schools expects a precipitous drop in federal anti-poverty funding next school year --to $14.4 million, down from $20.2 million this year --and leaders are trying to figure out how best to ration help for vulnerable students."

"He says more than half the collective Somerville student body participates in music programs, a significant feat considering `60 percent of our kids are living close to or at the poverty line. So for many of them, for their families, even $50 a month for an instrument was cost prohibitive.'"

"His troubles reflect a statewide problem for doctors who treat a disproportionately high number of the reported 320,000 low-income Texans who are dually eligible for Medicare, the federal insurer of the elderly, and Medicaid, the joint state-federal health care program for indigent children, disabled people and the very poor."

"Sending a signal that Brown needs to find a way to save $302 million besides barring poor kids from college, three Democrats and one Republican on the Assembly's subcommittee on education finance rejected a range of Cal Grant proposals from the governor."

"Two-dozen Bonita Springs residents told the Bonita Springs City Council tonight they don't want St. Matthew's House to build a homeless shelter next to Bonita Springs Charter School. They filled City Hall, leaving standing room only in council chambers and spilling to an overflow room."

"'We serve the elderly and low-income that's our target clientele, but we don't turn anyone away,' said Frank Kirschenheiter, site coordinator for the Antioch location. This year the program has more than 70 volunteers in Lake County who underwent a mandatory two-week training and testing course in early January that certifies them to help with tax preparations, Buschmann said."

"The Senior Community Service Employment Program, authorized by Title V of the Older Americans Act, is the only federally-sponsored employment and training program targeted specifically to unemployed, low-income seniors 55 and older. "

"The federal government's Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation recently dedicated $1 billion in grants to develop new ideas to improve care and lower costs for Medicare, Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Program beneficiaries."