11 Facts About Education and Poverty in America

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1. What is the "Poverty Line," anyway? According to the 2011 U.S. Census Bureau, it is a family of 4 (2 adults, 2 children under 18) that earns less than $23,021.^[United States Census Bureau. "Income, Poverty and Health Insurance Coverage in the United States: 2011." United States Census Bureau. Accessed February 18, 2015. .]
2. More than 30 million children are growing up in poverty. In one low-income community, there was only one book for every 300 children. You can improve literacy rates by running a competitive book drive for low-income areas. Sign up for Stacks on Stacks.^[Addy, Sophia, William Engelhardt, and Curtis Skinner. "Basic Facts About Low-income Children, Children Under 18 Years, 2011." NCCP. Accessed February 18, 2015. .]
3. In 2011, nearly 46.2 million Americans were living in poverty.^[Tavernise, Sabrina. "Poverty Rate Soars to Highest Level Since 1993." The New York Times. Accessed March 1, 2014. .]
4. Children living in poverty have a higher number of absenteeism or leave school all together because they are more likely to have to work or care for family members.^[Broadhurst, Karen, Paton, Helen and May-Chahal Corinne. "Children missing from school systems: exploring divergent patterns of disengagement in the narrative accounts of parents, carers, children and young people." British Journal of Sociology of Education. 26.1 (2005):105-119. Web. Accessed February 18, 2015.]
5. Dropout rates of 16 to 24-years-old students who come from low income families are seven times more likely to drop out than those from families with higher incomes.^[KewalRamani, Angelina, Jennifer Laird, Nicole Ifill, and Chris Chapman. "Trends in High School Dropout and Completion Rates in the United States: 1972–2009." National Center for Educational Statics. Accessed March 1, 2014, http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2012/2012006.pdf.]
6. A higher percentage of young adults (31%) without a high school diploma live in poverty, compared to the 24% of young people who finished high school.^[Aud, Susan, Angelina KewalRamani, and Lauren Frohlich. "America’s Youth: Transitions to Adulthood." National Center for Educational Statistics. Accessed March 14, 2001, http://nces.ed.gov/pubs2012/2012026.pdf.]
7. 40% of children living in poverty aren’t prepared for primary schooling.^[Save Our Schools, Inc. "Poverty; The Effect on the Whole Child." Save Our Schools March. Accessed March 1, 2014, http://saveourschoolsmarch.org/issues/poverty-and-the-effect-on-education/poverty-the-effect-on-the-whole-child/.]
8. Children that live below the poverty line are 1.3 times more likely to have developmental delays or learning disabilities than those who don’t live in poverty.^[Currie, Janet. "Poverty Among Inner-City Children." Princeton Publications. Accessed March 1, 2014. .]
9. By the end of the 4th grade, African-American, Hispanic and low-income students are already 2 years behind grade level. By the time they reach the 12th grade they are 4 years behind.^[US Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics. NAEP 1999 Trends in Academic Progress (p. 107) Washington, DC: US Department of Education, Accessed March 1, 2014. .]
10. In 2013, the dropout rate for students in the nation was at 8% for African American youth, 7% for Hispanic youth, and 4% for Asian youth, which are all higher than the dropout rate for Caucasian youth (4%).^[Fry, Richard. "U.S. high school dropout rate reaches record low, driven by improvements among Hispanics, blacks." Pew Research Center. Accessed February 18, 2015. .]
11. Less than 30% of students in the bottom quarter of incomes enroll in a 4 year school. Among that group – less than 50% graduate.^[Deparle, Jason. "For Poor, Leap to College Often Ends in a Hard Fall." The New York Times. Accessed March 1, 2014, http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/23/education/poor-students-struggle-as-class-plays-a-greater-role-in-success.html?pagewanted=all.]