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"So for elementary and middle schools, the rankings are based on student performance and improvement on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test. For high schools, they are based half on FCAT scores and half on other factors such as high school graduation rates and student success in advanced classes. But these rankings concern some educators, who say it does not take into account how factors such as poverty can impact students' academic performance."

"More than half the students come from poor households, but the trappings of high unemployment and poverty have not slowed them in school. Wells Academy was named Ohio's No. 1 public elementary school in the state's first school ranking based on student test scores."

"According to the New Jersey Education Law Center, low-income students make up 70 percent of students in the former Abbott districts, but only 27 percent of enrollment statewide. The state's 31 poorest districts -- the so-called Abbotts, which receive additional state aid as a result of a series of New Jersey Supreme Court rulings starting in 1985 -- also serve more than half of the state's black and Hispanic students."

"The need is great in this region, which has a high proportion of elderly and low-income residents who can't afford to pay a tax preparer or who may risk missing refunds doing taxes themselves, said Linda Ranagan, site coordinator for the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program through the United Way of Cumberland County"

"A shelter with 16 beds for homeless youths could be completed in two months, Northwest Youth Services Executive Director Riannon Bardsley said, if the agency gets the money it needs to finish the work."

"A report from Portland State University and the Coalition of Communities of Color delivers grim news about Latinos living in Multnomah County: They are poorer, their jobless rate is higher, and the teen birth rate is six times that for whites."

"On Friday in Liberty City, more than 500 students at Holmes Elementary received their very own, green-and-white laptops. Students can use them in class and take them home. The idea is that their curiosity will spark learning in new ways."

"Five students from The Wardlaw-Hartridge School in Edison participated in a candlelight vigil to recognize the homeless on Dec. 21, the first day of winter, at the Edison Municipal Building."

"Lunch prices for Ridgewood are $2.25 for kindergarten to third grade and $2.50 for fourth through 12th grade. Breakfast is $1. Reduced prices for low-income students who qualify are 40 cents for lunch and 30 cents for breakfast."

"Mr. Thomas, the Education Department spokesman, said the community's challenges were all the more reason for the city to step in. 'We don't believe students in those kinds of neighborhoods deserve to be languishing in a low-quality school,' he said. 'It's unfortunate that a lot of these schools are in low-income areas. Frankly, those are the students we need to help the most.'"

"President Obama repeated a familiar refrain about the importance of teachers in his State of the Union speech: 'A great teacher can offer an escape from poverty to the child who dreams beyond his circumstance."

"Advocates for low-income Mainers are presenting a report that highlights the impact of poverty on children, families and seniors. The Maine Community Action Association released its annual Poverty Report Update on Thursday. The report was prepared by the Margaret Chase Smith Center at the University of Maine. The report highlights newly released county-by-county poverty data from the 2010 U.S. Census."