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"Maggie Flowers, a director at Wider Opportunities for Women, said many elderly who don't live below the $10,890 poverty line, as set by the federal government, still have trouble meeting basic needs even without spending on "frills" like going out for coffee or taking a grandchild to the movies."

"Business leaders have repeatedly stated that in today's economy jobs are available, but mostly for those adequately trained in the increasingly technical skills necessary to conduct the tasks required of the new work force. In many circles the bachelor's degree is becoming the new minimum, and even the quality of those degrees is coming under scrutiny. In Mississippi, over 20 percent of the population, or approximately 600,000 citizens, live below the poverty line."

"Only a tiny fraction of eligible students will likely apply initially for state aid to attend private or parochial schools if Gov. Bobby Jindal's expansion plan wins approval, state Superintendent of Education John White said Tuesday."

"Tenants and a state senator are battling a requirement by a Los Angeles landlord that residents pay their rent online, alleging that a 'green' initiative introduced by the company is actually a pretense to evict low-income, elderly renters benefiting from rent-stabilization provisions."

"And what has been the most significant public response to date to that looming crisis of poverty among the elderly? It's been a backlash against the one class of workers that still retains definedbenefit pensions and a measure of retirement security - those who work in the public sector."

"'Grants were made to organizations and programs that empower parents, particularly in low-income communities, to choose among quality, publicly funded schools for their children,' the foundation said in a news release. To date, it has donated more than $1 billion to education reform."

"Compared to other large school systems, low-income minority students are less likely to be taught by inexperienced teachers. Budget cuts that resulted in the layoff of less-experienced teachers in Los Angeles might be a contributing factor."

" It has been reinstated and expanded to examine a broader range of information, including, for the first time, referrals to law enforcement, an area of increasing concern to civil rights advocates who see the emergence of a school-to-prison pipeline for a growing number of students of color."

"Citing high levels of fraud and abuse in the school lunch program, Gov. Chris Christie yesterday launched a task force to examine how school aid is distributed in New Jersey."

"The AARP report, which examined the retail prices of the 514 brand name and generic drugs most widely used by Medicare recipients, said that the price of generic drugs fell by nearly 31 percent from 2005 to 2009. But at the same time that brand-name drug prices grew by nearly 41 percent and specialty drugs rose more than 48 percent."

"The fractious debate over how much schools can counteract poverty's impact on children is far from settled, but a recently published collection of research strongly suggests that until policymakers and educators confront deepening economic and social disparities, poor children will increasingly miss out on finding a path to upward social mobility."

"Cleveland, to jeers and cheers, last week denied the presence of extreme poverty in North Carolina and said that statistics showing it are merely manipulated by the government for political benefit. His comments coincided with the NAACP's statewide poverty tour - the Rev. William Barber invited me to come with him and meet some Vietnam vets sleeping under bridges in Fayetteville - and the N.C. Community Action Association's push to publicize its own 'Face-to-Face with Poverty' initiative."