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"Critics of the board's majority have warned that the move to neighborhood schools could result in de facto resegregation that would be devastating in areas with high concentrations of poverty, places such as Southeast Raleigh."

"The mayor of Los Angeles sided publicly with local charter schools Thursday in their latest bid to take over new and low-performing campuses, while sharply criticizing the L.A. schools superintendent, his onetime deputy."

"A trip to the school library may be a weekly highlight for children who love to read, but for kids from low-income families, it's more of the necessity than a treat, according to literacy experts and the librarians who help kids struggling in high school without a home computer."

"The move will eliminate fees paid to private banks that act as intermediaries, saving the government billions of dollars. The government expects to use much of the savings to boost the Federal Pell Grant Program for low-income students starting in 2013."

"One source of contention was the planned appearance at the hearings of Steven Eisman... He has recently compared the for-profit college sector to the subprime mortgage banking industry -- arguing that both grew rapidly based on lending to low-income people with little ability to repay..."

"But the proposed change has brought bitter opposition from activists representing low-income neighborhoods and schools, as well as African-American groups such as the Black Political Caucus and the NAACP."

"The schools were selected when the county adopted the program in 2008, based on student achievement needs and poverty levels, said Karene Brodie, executive director for the county's Hillside Work-Scholarship program."

"The graduation rate for students who were offered scholarships was 82 percent, compared with 70 percent for those not in the program.... It's hard to discount the difference that vouchers made for the low-income students participating in the program."

"A rigorous study of a national charter school system has found that most of its low-income students achieve "overwhelmingly positive" academic improvements in a few years."

" But CMS formulas tend to create confusion as they try to account for all sorts of variables, from classrooms set aside for special education to smaller classes for at-risk kids in high-poverty schools."

"But most children live in the neighborhoods around the school. About 90 percent qualify for free or reduced-price lunch because they come from low-income families."

"The small schools are not academically selective; they are open to all eighth-grade graduates. Both groups were overwhelmingly black and Hispanic and living in neighborhoods with high poverty rates students who are most at risk for dropping out."