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"The month of August has marked the 75th anniversary of a program that has lifted millions of Americans out of poverty and helped them cope with the economic uncertainties of retirement, disability and the death of family wage-earners: Social Security."

"But while plenty of that money may have been spent superfluously, it also appears to have played an important role in funding college educations, particularly for lower income families, according to Cornell University economist Michael Lovenheim."

"President Franklin Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act in 1935. Since then, it has unquestionably kept millions of people - most importantly, the elderly and disabled - from the depths of poverty.

"In June, Vantaja, 17, graduated from Malverne High School. She is an honors graduate, a scholarship recipient, and this week she is due to become a freshman at Nassau Community College. Until February, she was homeless."

"Randolph High dropped fees and restored junior-varsity sports after a $5.48 million override passed in April 2008, and Brockton officials say fees would create hardship for the 64 percent of the students at the high school who are classified as low-income."

"The district could not afford to forgo the grant money, said Burlington schools superintendent Jeanne Collins. Nor could Wheeler - a school with many recently arrived refugees from Africa and other parts of the world, many students from deep poverty, and notably low test scores."

"A volunteer team from Rebuilding Together, a nonprofit that updates low-income seniors' homes with safety items such as grab bars and wheelchair ramps, is on the job in his mother's south Sacramento house."

"For homeless students living at the Missouri Hotel, access to computers often ended with the school day. There was nowhere close to complete online assignments, play educational games or look up a topic discussed in class."

"According to the federal government, among Washington's low-income black eighth-graders, only 8 percent have achieved eighth-grade math proficiency. Among the state's nonpoor white students, about half meet this standard."

"Meadowlane is one of only eight schools in Alabama recognized by the state Department of Education as a school where high poverty has not translated into low achievement."

"Test scores as a whole have risen rapidly, but some schools are performing abysmally, with others comprising a vast middle group, improving but still struggling to teach basic reading and math to low-income students who came in three, four, even five grade levels behind."

"The federal government has awarded a total of $1 million over five years to Santa Fe Community College to help low-income and first-generation students and students with disabilities finish their education."