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"State senators on Thursday passed a Republican-backed school voucher program for low-income students in the state's four largest counties, including Hamilton."

"Meehan said Rebecca Walsh, a sophomore psychology major from Methuen who worked with homeless families over her spring break rather than sit on the couch, is the type of student focused on serving the community that UMass Lowell will continue to produce..."

"The hope, Sargent said, is that agencies will develop programs that match the United Way's goals and apply for that funding. Also, the United Way provided some money for a required local match to a federal stimulus grant that helps low-income parents put their kids in daycare."

"'Two things that help one move out of poverty are education and relationships.' Cristo Rey Kansas City, a Catholic college prep school, has the education part well covered."

"The aftermath is being measured today in taffeta and test scores. Student poverty has risen in Duluth, graduation rates have softened and the PTA's largest fundraiser, the Miss Duluth pageant, barely broke even this year."

"As Congress debates the budget, it must remember that the Great Recession wreaked havoc on the American middle class. But it must also focus on the plight of those who were poor even before the recession and rendered nearly invisible by the economic crisis."

"More than 40 million work hours are provided to public and nonprofit agencies each year through the Department of Labor's Senior Community Service Employment Program, or SCSEP. Participants must be 55 or older, be unemployed and have poor employment prospects."

"California is one of six states that does not regulate private in-home caregivers. While the state now screens workers providing care for the mostly low-income, blind, disabled and elderly Californians enrolled in in the In-Home Supportive Services program..."

"Since February 2009, SNAP implemented Simplified Reporting requiring households to report only when the income exceeds 130 percent of the federal poverty level and address change, according to Public Health."

"Though Brizard touts improvements in graduation rates and test scores among his accomplishments in his 31/2 years, opinion is sharply divided on whether he has made a significant difference in the performance of the district's largely low-income... students."

"Consider just a few factors, solely about students: lack of motivation, distorted educational expectations, impoverished educational background, psychological problems, destructive educational attitudes, varying speeds at which students learn, varying aptitude..."

"Rep. Tishaura Jones, who proposed the legislation, said expanding charter schools is important because poor schools have caused even low-income families to move away from the center of the state's urban areas."