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"Gov. Bev Perdue today announced a new JobsNOW program, called JobBoost, to help put low- income workers into jobs. The program will create up to 1,000 jobs for Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) eligible workers."

"Almost everybody has been helped by the federal government's increased spending on education, Ms. Baum said, either through Pell grants, which provide an average of $3,600 for low-income students, or through tax credits, which go further up the income scale."

"State officials reviewed standardized test scores from South Carolina's 525 Title 1 schools, which get extra federal money because they have a large share of students from low-income homes."

"Portland has long had two Head Start pre-kindergarten classrooms, currently in Riverton and East End schools. They serve 4-year-olds from low-income families, in a program supported by PROP, a social service provider."

"...Center for People in Need took high school graduation pictures of Lincoln students who couldn't afford them, giving these students the opportunity to frame their photos... It was a small but important gesture for students who often are held back by poverty"

"[Karyn Parker]... said the program has covered tuition for children from low-income families. It also provides scholarships for their teachers to attend community colleges and work toward associate degrees in early-childhood education."

"Schools face escalating consequences if they continue to miss federal test targets. In the first year, nothing happens. But after two consecutive years, schools that get federal funds for low-income students must offer tutoring or student transfers to other schools."

"Its 258 students would be assigned to J.M. Alexander Middle, where enrollment would grow from 604 to 862. Davidson IB Middle currently has 19 percent low-income student enrollment. The new J.M. Alexander Middle would have 32 percent."

"Neither school would seem likely to turn out high-performing students. They serve high minority populations of students, many of whom come from impoverished homes. But both schools have managed to turn what some might see as obstacles into academic excellence."

""Unless we find ways to increase the number of students who return to complete their college degrees," the U.S. will lag further behind in the number of college-educated citizens in this century, it said."

"He said 'If our kids do not have coats, we will get them. They will get themselves to school and learn.' That's one thing I respect about him. He does not see poverty as an excuse for failure.'"

"Aycock said the effort is particularly important at Prairie Elementary because 66 percent of students come from low-income families. Historically, those students are at a higher risk to eventually become overweight."