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"A new report highlights an economic crisis facing West Virginia's large senior population. The study released Wednesday finds more than one in 10 residents age 65 or older at or below the federal poverty line. One-fourth rely entirely on Social Security. Most are women."

"For the most part, this class of women cleans houses, watches kids and waits tables. Anyone who has spent time doing any of those jobs knows two things: It's hard work, and the pay bites. And yet this is where most nonprofessional women stay, hovering near poverty..."

"Research has shown that simply giving children books may be as effective as summer school... The big question is whether the effect can be replicated on a larger scale and help reduce the USA's... achievement gap between low-income and middle-class students."

"A handful of small, private women's colleges, including Alverno College in Milwaukee, the College of New Rochelle in New York and Trinity Washington University in Washington, are shifting to enrolling and graduating low-income minority students."

"Their failure comes at a high cost to the rest of us. Those who don't graduate are twice as likely as graduates to be jobless, three times as likely to live in poverty and eight times more likely to wind up in prison."

"The buildings usually don't offer meals or services. But also included among the buildings are three new assisted-living facilities for low-income seniors, along with a building for those with memory loss."

"The last day of classes doesn't end the work of Georgia's public school administrative staff who help poor and homeless students. With unemployment and foreclosures sinking more families into financial crisis, some school districts have expanded their assistance..."

"The deposits would be small - $50 to start, $100 for lower-income children - but the hope is that they will pay huge dividends, teaching students about saving and budgeting while forging the conviction that a college education is within reach."

"The Pasco Hernando Early Learning Coalition voted unanimously Thursday to pare the subsidies for after-school care, freeing up money for younger children's services.The plan will phase out the subsidies for low-income children ages 9 to 12."

"The percentage of public schools where more than three-quarters of students are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch - a key indicator of poverty - has increased in the past decade, and children at these schools are less likely to attend college..."

"Only 4 percent of these young men read at grade level when their names were drawn in the 2006 lottery for Urban Prep's first freshman class. More than 80 percent came from low-income homes."

"Ten Miami Valley school districts mirror a national increase of more students living in poverty than ever before as shown in an annual assessment by the U.S. Department of Education titled the 'Condition of Education.'"