Study: Over Half Of American Public Schoolchildren Now Live In Poverty

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During last night's State of the Union address, Barack Obama put forth a number of proposals to help the lower and middle classes in America.  Through numerous "responses" the GOP basically replied "No" to just about every proposal.   Simply put, the poor, the middle class and I would venture, the majority of Americans simply no longer matter to the GOP.  If one isn't a white conservative Christian, a member of the 1%, or a Wall Street vulture capitalist, you just plain do not matter to today's GOP.  Oh, and did I mention that the GOP depicts Obama as a supporter of "militant Islam" and a socialist?  Meanwhile, a new study reveals that nationwide more than 50% of American's public school children are living in poverty.  A piece in Huffington Post looks at the sad reality.  Here are highlights:

For the first time, more than half of U.S. public school students live in low-income households, according to a new analysis from the Southern Education Foundation.

Overall, 51 percent of U.S. schoolchildren came from low-income households in 2013, according to the foundation, which analyzed data from National Center for Education Statistics on students eligible for free or reduced-price lunches. Eligibility for free or subsidized lunch for students from low-income households serves as a proxy for gauging poverty, says the foundation, which advocates education equity for students in the South.

The report shows the percentage of schoolchildren from poor households has grown steadily for nearly a quarter-century, from 32 percent in 1989. "By 2006, the national rate was 42 percent and, after the Great Recession, the rate climbed in 2011 to 48 percent," says the report.

The analysis shows the highest percentages of poor students in Southern and Western states. Mississippi had the highest rate of low-income students -- 71 percent. New Hampshire had the lowest, at 27 percent.

“No longer can we consider the problems and needs of low income students simply a matter of fairness," the report says. "... Their success or failure in the public schools will determine the entire body of human capital and educational potential that the nation will possess in the future."

 As for the Gospel message of helping the poor and disadvantaged and looking out for the welfare of children, they are totally missing from the GOP agenda.  The Pharisees of the Bible are upstanding individuals compared to today's "Christian values" loving Republicans.