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''Although much smaller than Wichita's 50,000 students, the Middletown district has similar challenges because of a comparable poverty rate about 70 percent of students receive reduced-price meals."

"There is no dispute that the Wake County school system needs to do a better job of educating low-income students, but emotional arguments flare over whether the answer is to end busing for diversity."

"'The low-income students of Tennessee will, as the majority, determine whether Tennessee has a work force, a leadership of citizens that will bring high quality of life and a decent income and wages for the state, because they are the majority,' Suitts said."

"On the latter, it considers not only overall scores, but how much a state has improved and how much it has narrowed achievement gaps for low-income students."

"Gov. Pat Quinn on Thursday indicated he intends to hack away at the state's nearly $12 billion deficit by pursuing a tax reform plan that would boost income taxes on wealthier Illinois residents but would cut them for low- and moderate-income taxpayers."

"Low-income students, special education students, and students not fluent in English tend to lag, as well. Such gaps also show up on other measures, such as high school graduation rates."

"More than half of UC Merced applicants come from families considered low-income by the state. More than 50 percent are also the first in their families to attend college -- a percentage that is unmatched by any other UC campus."

"The district is emphasizing guided reading, small-group instruction, inquiry-based instruction, connected math that reaches across other disciplines and has added math and literacy coaches this year. Professional development in understanding poverty is continuing."

"Last year's Education Week report was highly touted by Gov. Charlie Crist and Education Commissioner Eric J. Smith, and it's likely they will do the same with the latest report."

"UC Berkeley outshines other flagship schools in extending the welcome mat to low-income applicants: 33 percent of its students rely on Pell grants, compared with an average of 21 percent at 22 other flagships."

"A 2007 study by Carnegie Mellon University showed that in a group of low-income preschoolers, playing a board game with numbers, such as Chutes and Ladders, helped them improve their performance on four kinds of numerical tasks."

"The Jeanie Schmidt Free Clinic, a community-based organization providing health services to uninsured low-income residents in western Fairfax County, began its volunteer services in the cafeteria of Herndon Middle School in 2002."