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"The burdens of poverty are real, and overcoming those burdens takes hard work and resources. But poverty is not destiny. Hundreds of schools in high-poverty communities are closing achievement gaps."

"Minnesota's march toward all-day kindergarten, fueled to date by school districts or parents willing to pay extra, would become an option for more low-income children who can't afford it if Gov. Mark Dayton has his way."

"About 78 percent of preK students were eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, an indicator of poverty, according to the report. Around 34 percent came from homes earning less than $10,000 per year."

"A controversial proposal to allow school vouchers in Pennsylvania cleared a key legislative committee Tuesday. The Senate Education Committee voted in favor of a bill that would phase in a voucher program for low-income students over three years."

"Because of Social Security, the poverty figure for seniors today is less than 10 percent. Social Security also provides dignified support for millions of widows, widowers, orphans and people with disabilities."

"Women are gaining ground educationally and economically, but men still make more money on average and women are more likely to live in poverty, according to a White House report expected to be released Tuesday."

"EMU is launching Keys to Degrees as a way to reach out to what officials say is an underserved population -- single parents -- who often feel disengaged from college. They are also less likely to receive a college degree, and more likely to live in poverty."

"Simpson and Bowles proposed raising the payroll tax on high-income earners, raising the Social Security retirement age to 69 (very gradually, over the next 65 years), adjusting the formula for cost-of-living increases in benefits and increasing benefits for low-income retirees."

"Also, the complaint alleges, the school closings affect a disproportionate number of students in low-income neighborhoods such as Roxbury, Dorchester, and Mattapan, compared with neighborhoods serving higher percentages of white students..."

"Mayor Bloomberg has detailed, school by school, what parents can expect from last in, first out layoffs. The numbers reveal grossly unequal treatment - with low-income, mostly black and Hispanic schools bearing the brunt."

"Former scholars now include bankers, doctors, scientists, a film student raised in a Bronx homeless shelter, an analyst in the money laundering unit of the Manhattan district attorney's office and a licensed aircraft mechanic whose mother worked as a cashier in the food court..."

"It sought diversity, 'broadly defined to include a wide variety of factors, such as race, ethnicity, gender, English for speakers of other languages (ESOL), geography, poverty, prior school and cultural experiences, and other unique skills and experiences.'''