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Nearly a third of all public high school studentsand roughly half of those who live in low-income communitiesfail to graduate with their class, according to an op-ed by Dorothy Stoneman, president and founder of YouthBuild USA . The author argues that the young people without a high school diploma are more likely to face unemployment and poverty, especially during the recession. Stoneman recommends that Congress continue to invest in programs that provide low-income young adults with effective education and job training. In YouthBuild programs, young people earn their GEDs and learn job skills by building affordable housing for poor and homeless families.

"Almost 1 million homeless students attended public schools in 2008-09, a 41 percent increase over the previous two years and another sign of how broadly the economic recession has struck America."

"Nearly 60 percent of the school districts in the state, representing 81 percent of Illinois' public school kids and 86 percent of its low-income public school kids, have signed on. That's up from 42 percent of districts in the first round."

"Larry Green is superintendent of a rural school district that stretches alongside the Mississippi River, and he knows how challenging life can be for children from poor families."

"I worked with Strickland to put in place the Education Challenge Factor, which is sensitive to districts that need more money based on the poverty level, property values and, for the first time, the education attainment levels of the parents."

"But Tuesday, after 1,000 people rallied in downtown Raleigh to support economic (and racial) diversity in schools, Margiotta said: 'This board does not intend to create high-poverty or low-performing schools in the new zone assignments.'"

"The state Department of Education plans to design new research-based evaluation models over the next few months. Officials hope to try out the models next year in school divisions with low-achieving and high-poverty schools."

"The month-long 'Backpack to the Future' School Supply Drive begins Monday. Collected items will benefit low-income kindergarten-age school children throughout Northwest Ohio."

"Title I schools with large low-income student populations continue to receive additional money for professional learning, Beasley said. However, budget cuts had an impact on the use of outside consultants."

"Yet not all seniors have had those advantages and for them, aging is a far more dismal picture. The Florida Department of Elder Affairs estimates that more than 400,000 state residents over 60 live below the poverty line and that 800,000 Floridians over 65 are medically underserved."

"The report is part of a study released earlier this year that examined suburban poverty in 100 of the nation's largest metropolitan areas, Harvey said. Polk County has the fifth-highest rate of suburban poverty in the nation, according to the report."

"Six weeks may be the boost needed to help close the educational gap between lower- and upper-income children. That is the length of the Horizons at Harley Student Enrichment Program."