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"A new census measure released recently shows the poverty rate to be higher than previously known -- about 15.9 percent for Americans 65 or older, compared to the official 9 percent rate reported in September."

"Just three years ago, Pine View Elementary had 23.9 percent of its students qualified for free or reduced-price meals, a widely accepted indicator of poverty in schools. That ranked it ninth lowest among the Pasco County school district's 44 elementary schools."

"President Barack Obama acknowledged on Wednesday that black Americans have faced "enormous challenges" with unemployment under his watch, and appealed for their support in pursuing solutions that he can implement without help from Congress."

"It would cost cash-strapped California at least $2 billion to meet the requirements for relief from the federal No Child Left Behind law, state officials reported Wednesday to the California Board of Education."

"The hardships for many of that generation's older blacks have indeed followed their children, now entering old age. In revisiting the 1964 'Double Jeopardy report, we see that older black people are faring better economically, but there are gaps and inequalities that have not been closed."

"Poverty has deepened in Boston's poorest neighborhoods, widening the gap between the city's wealthiest and neediest residents, a report being released today finds."

"President Obama visited a schoolhouse in this suburb of Philadelphia on Tuesday to announce stricter financing standards for the government's Head Start program, which offers preschool training for children from low-income families."

"The Pew report seemed somewhat at odds with a Census Bureau study released Monday showing that under a new, alternative way of measuring poverty that includes health care costs, 15.9 percent of Americans 65 and older are living in poverty, slightly higher than the 15.2 percent of Americans ages 18 to 64 living in poverty."

"The federal government's Head Start program provides preschool for 900,000 low-income children. In an attempt to improve quality, Obama plans to require all lower-performing Head Start programs that fail to meet a new set of benchmarks to compete for continued federal funding."

"A new measure of poverty in the United States that includes in-kind income from programs like food stamps, out-of-pocket medical costs and regional housing expenses puts 49.1 million Americans below the poverty level -- 2.5 million more than the U.S. census reported in September."

"Discretionary income refers to the difference between a borrower's family income and 150 percent of the poverty level for that family size."

"The differences are even more stark among low-income students. Charter public-school pupils who qualified for free or reduced-price lunches outscored low-income students in the districts they came from by between 15 and 18 points on the three tests. Since MCAS is graded on a 200-280 scale, 15 points is a very significant difference."