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"Five years after the storm, the Mississippi Center for Justice estimates more than 5,000 households affected by the storm still are without permanent housing. Low-income and minority residents near the coastline are most acutely affected..."

"Even on the Island, local educators said, the indirect impact of the new federal money could be far-reaching. Moreover, a handful of Island districts with high poverty rates stand to gain substantial new federal cash."

"Half of the $250 million will go to school districts, based on their number of low-income students... The rest will be spent on statewide efforts. Massachusetts was among nine states and the District of Columbia to prevail in the second round of the Race to the Top competition..."

"The house, which sits on a particularly bleak block choked by weeds and vacant buildings, wasn't theirs, but it was shelter in the neighborhood where they'd grown up. The siblings are part of a disproportionate number of sick and elderly living in blighted buildings since Katrina..."

"When it comes to poverty - a contributing factor for dropping out of school - the majority of those affected are single parents. Thirty-seven percent of single moms and 17.5 percent of single dads are in poverty, whereas just 6.7 percent of married couples are in poverty."

"The ultimate goal of the program is to break the poverty cycle, but some of the other side effects include lowering the high school dropout rate, reducing the number of children in at-risk situations and lessening the number of students repeating grades, DeMelo said."

"Torcivia, a Teach for America alumna who had taught special education at Miami Central Senior High, said she founded Rise to provide new opportunities for low-income students in South Dade."

"In 2009, a two-parent family living at the poverty line would have to spend about half its income to afford placing a baby in a day care center, according to a report by the National Association of Child Care Resource and Referral Agencies."

"The Bibb County school system is now included as one of the parties in an amicus brief being filed in support of school systems in the state that want control over granting charter school petitions."

"Fitting in with classmates. Adjusting to a new school. Managing homework and after-school activities. As students adjust to the rigors of a new school year, an increasing number of their classmates face an extra challenge: homelessness."

"Their number-one recommendation to begin to remedy this is to 'provide a program of voluntary preschool education, universally available to children from low-income families such that all children at or below... the official poverty line have a chance to enter school..."

"About 335,000 low-income students have qualified for Cal Grants, but the state won't be sending out the money a total of $407 million until there's a budget deal. (Most Cal Grant recipients also receive other financial aid, including federal loans and grants, that isn't being held up.)"