Connecticut Schools Near the Top of the Nation for Fewest Students in Poverty

A new study by the National Center for Education Statistics finds that for the first time in at least 50 years more than half of the country’s public school students qualify as low income students. For almost half the states, the majority of students qualify for free or reduced lunches. Connecticut is one of only 10 states have low-income student populations below 40 percent. But that’s hardly good news: in Connecticut, more than one out of every three students in our public schools (36 percent) and qualifies for free or reduced lunches and other federal school meal programs. The problem is made worse by the fact that so few schools participate in some of those federal meal programs. Read more.