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Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity leads research and consulting initiatives that identify and address barriers to economic well-being.
Type
State
Issue
Chicago Tribune, February 28, 2011: Less care at school day care
"At least five other high schools in Cook County, as well as a handful of others across the state, offer similar programs, according to Illinois Action for Children, a nonprofit that works with low-income families, including teen parents."
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, February 28, 2011: Concern builds over cuts to pre-k
"Marci Young, director of Pre-K Now, a campaign of the Pew Center on the States, said multiple studies have shown that full-time programs are better than half-day programs, especially for low-income and other at-risk children."
The Associated Press, February 27, 2011: Conn. committee to review education gap proposals
"...Connecticut's poorest students are about three grade levels behind their peers in reading and math. It also says 60 percent of low-income students graduated from high school in 2009, compared with 86 percent of more affluent students."
The Washington Post, February 27, 2011: Learning and yearning
"The tuition is $85 a week. But for Hite - and for her daughter Jameria, who almost dropped out of public school after giving birth to a child when she was 14 - the academy offers something invaluable: an escape from the troubled public school in her district."
The News & Observer, February 27, 2011: Invaluable teacher corps
"For Wendy Kopp, class of 1989, it became a career devoted to transforming primary and secondary education. What began as an idea for a teacher corps for hard-to-staff schools, urban and rural, became Teach for America."
Asbury Park Press, February 27, 2011: (Op-Ed) Letting the cream rise to the top
"She believed something that bemused skeptics - that students from elite schools would volunteer to have their first experience out of college teaching in difficult-to-staff schools in areas of urban and rural poverty."
The Associated Press, February 27, 2011: Ga. teachers, parents fear scaled back pre-k
"Parents and teachers alike fear children, especially from low-income families, won't be prepared for kindergarten and beyond. And some parents are already scrambling to find extra care for their children this fall."
The New York Times, February 27, 2011: (Op-Ed) Leaving Children Behind
"And in low-tax, low-spending Texas, the kids are not all right. The high school graduation rate, at just 61.3 percent, puts Texas 43rd out of 50 in state rankings. Nationally, the state ranks fifth in child poverty; it leads in the percentage of children without health insurance."
St. Paul Pioneer Press, February 27, 2011: Gifted. Talented. And invisible.
"Black, Hispanic and low-income students are decidedly underrepresented -- a disparity that has long plagued more traditional part-time gifted and talented programs in the state and beyond."
Des Moines Register, February 27, 2011: Critics: Branstad plan would cut middle-class preschool enrollment
"Tim Albrecht, a spokesman for the governor's office, said Branstad's plan would cut costs while continuing to offer assistance to those needing it most. Parents would pay fees on a sliding scale ranging from $3 per month for the lowest-income families to $133 per month..."
Austin American-Statesman, February 26, 2011: Running program makes big strides in teaching students healthy habits
"The UT School of Public Health study focused on fourth- and fifth-graders at eight low-income elementary schools in Houston and Austin . It showed that students at schools with Marathon Kids spent more minutes exercising.'"
The Oregonian, February 26, 2011: Consolidation plan takes Title I funds into account
"[Clackamas Elementary's] parents and teachers questioned whether students would still have access to supplemental resources that are financed by Title I funding, which the district grants to schools with a high percentage of low-income students. "
