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Find the latest stories, research, and insights on policies, programs, and ideas shaping the national conversation on poverty and economic mobility.
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Spotlight on Poverty and Opportunity leads research and consulting initiatives that identify and address barriers to economic well-being.
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The Herald, March 16, 2011: Head Start shows its value for preschool kids - and parents - in tough budget battle year
"As politicians in Washington debate how much money to cut from the Head Start preschool program ...16 of the kids in that program Tuesday morning built a model city... Since 1965, Head Start has taught millions of American kids from low-income families..."
The Asheville Citizen-Times, March 16, 2011: (Op-Ed) Charter schools open to all students
"At Evergreen Community Charter School, 41 percent of our families qualify for free and reduced-price lunch with 23 percent below the poverty threshold; at ArtSpace Charter School, 49 percent qualify, with 31 percent below the poverty threshold..."
The Washington Post, March 15, 2011: (Op-Ed) A debt crisis that requires compassion
"Then there is the group about which we deficit pandas care most: the poor and working poor. They are at the greatest risk from a fiscal crisis, not merely because of the prospect of losing jobs."
Chico Enterprise-Record, March 15, 2011: Fight looms over Pell Grant cuts
"Pell Grants were just one of many programs to help low-income people that were to be cut under HR 1. According to the National Organization for Women, the bill also proposed cutting, among other things, the health care reform act passed last year; teen pregnancy prevention grants..."
The Wall Street Journal, March 14, 2011: Beyond Charter Schools
"Last week a House committee voted to restore Washington, D.C.'s opportunity scholarship program, which lets kids in persistently failing schools attend a private school of the family's choosing."
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, March 14, 2011: (Op-Ed) What ordinary people can do to promote public school reform.
"Families living in poverty continuously cope with immense and complex problems largely on their own - challenges as basic as keeping food on the table, preventing utilities from being turned off and making the next rent payment."
St. Louis Post-Dispatch, March 14, 2011: (Op-Ed) What ordinary people can do to promote public school reform
"Stripped to its basics, the battle to reform public education in low-income communities is a struggle against isolation."
The Reporter, March 14, 2011: More students qualify for free or reduced-price meals
"About 41 percent of schoolchildren in Fond du Lac qualify for free or reduced-price meals - an indicator of poverty levels in the community. Superintendent Jim Sebert said 3,000 out of 7,300 students are eligible for subsidized meals."
The News & Observer, March 14, 2011: Cash Michaels questions Wake school board
"Cash Michaels is hammering the Wake County school board for not planning for the costs of high-poverty neighborhood schools, and he's warning that the budget cuts in Charlotte could be a sign of things to come locally."
The Washington Post, March 13, 2011: (Op-Ed) To fix schools, treat teaching as a profession
"Teaching is incredibly hard, especially when dealing with children in high-poverty communities who come to school with enormous challenges."
Charlotte Observer, March 13, 2011: New ratings for CMS teachers spark questions
"Those numbers raise questions about who's getting the district's best and worst teachers, based on the new measure. They're likely to rattle parents' perceptions. For instance: Wilson Middle, a long-struggling high-poverty school, is rated near the top for teacher effectiveness."
The Washington Post, March 13, 2011: (Editorial) In D.C.'s Parkside-Kenilworth Community, a promise of change
"Over the years, many programs have aimed to ease poverty's grip on Washington's Parkside-Kenilworth Community, and each has failed. Now the DC Promise Neighborhood Initiative, basing its ambitious effort on the cradle-to-college model of Geoffrey Canada's Harlem Children's Zone, is hoping to break that pattern."
