California

"Universities aren't required to track homelessness, so the exact size of the problem is unknown. But more than 33,000 students nationwide declared themselves homeless on federal student aid applications last year, the first time the question was included."

"The eight-hour session dealt with two big issues: What to do about the beleaguered iPad project, and whom to favor in passing out federal funds earmarked for low-income kids."

"More than two dozen local schools face reduced funding next year as the Los Angeles school district funnels more federal money to campuses with a higher percentage of low-income students."

"A 2011 study conducted by the National Foundation to End Senior Hunger found that 15.2 percent (or 8.8 million) of seniors in the U.S. face the threat of hunger every day."

"Coachella Valley Unified will issue iPads to all 19,000 students -- preschool through high school -- by November. A tablet rollout of this scale would be a hefty undertaking for any school district, but it is especially ambitious in Coachella Valley Unified, which estimates that about 90% of students live in poverty."

"Ninety-nine percent of Van Buren students come from families who live in poverty. The surrounding neighborhood is home to low-income farmworkers and Spanish-speaking migrant families. Across the street sits a homeless shelter that has sent more students to the school since the recession began. These are the telltale signs of a struggling school, but Van Buren bucks convention."