1. "Signs point to repercussions of kids being poorer"
By Greg Toppo, USA TODAY

Federal figures released last week show that 18%, or about 13 million children, lived in poverty in 2003, the latest year for which figures are available.

That is lower than in 1993, when 23% of children were poor, but higher than in 2001, when 16% lived below the poverty line.

and Tuesday, August 17, 2004

America's income gap grows; rich get richer
Wealthiest 20% account for 50% of U.S. income, Census shows

SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER STAFF AND NEWS SERVICES

2. In The Shame of the Nation - The Restoration of Apartheid Schooling in America, Jonathan Kozol cites the research of Gary Orfield of Harvard to document the return to a heavily segregated system.

"At the beginning of the twenty-first century," according to Professor Gary Orfield and his colleagues at the Civil Rights Project at Harvard University, " American public schools are now 12 years into the process of continuous resegregation. The desegregation of black students, which increased continuously from the 1950s to the late 1980s, has now receded to levels not seen in three decades." (p 19)

Review at http://www.nochildleft.com/2005/oct05review.html

3. "Failing AYP at the Top"

Quoting from an NEA news release:

NAEP Scores Show Minimal
Changes in Reading and Math Scores

Achievement Gaps for Minorities Closing at Slower Rate than Before NCLB

WASHINGTON -- The release of 2003-05 data in the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) report indicates that the so-called "No Child Left Behind" (NCLB) law has resulted in very little improvement, if any, of students' math and reading test scores. In fact, the National Education Association (NEA) noted results in some areas indicate that progress has slowed in the last two years.