President Bush's fiscal year 2009 budget proposal includes $2.8 billion in cuts to programs that impact children—a 3 percent drop from last year's federal budget. First Focus, a bipartisan children's advocacy organization, takes a reader-friendly look at the numbers and what they say about our nation's priorities.

CFK Reports From: Expanding the Envelope of Anti-Poverty Initiatives
Event: Symposium
Organized By: Brookings Metropolitan Policy Program
Where/When: July 18, 2006; The National Press Club
Report By: Kate Carta

This symposium focused on the often overlooked opportunities that public and private leaders have to assist lower income families by bringing down the prices for basic necessities in their everyday lives.

Voters feel Congress is out of touch when it comes to funding education—that's according to a new national poll from the National School Boards Association (NSBA). Of 1,200 respondents, 74 percent said Congress does not do a good job of setting priorities for the federal budget and spending—and needs to change these priorities. A majority (59 percent) said they'd be less likely to vote for a member of Congress who voted against funding No Child Left Behind and Special Education programs to their "authorized and promised levels." Voters aligned with both parties supported restoring this funding.

Tax time is upon us—for some low- and moderate-income families, it can bring a major relief. State and federal Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) programs remove tax burdens for these working families, and are available even to those with incomes too low to be taxed. States that enact EITCs can reduce child poverty, increase effective wages, and cut taxes for families struggling to make ends meet, according to a new report from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

Even Start is a federally funded effort to improve literacy in very low income families, so that kids will do better in school, and parents can participate in their children's educations and improve their own life prospects. Now, a 56 percent cut in fiscal 2006 and a proposal from President Bush to eliminate all funding in fiscal 2007 has Even Start on the ropes. Cecilia Garcia takes a look at the program, and at the Bush administration's claim that it doesn't work.

When it comes to tax treatment of the poor, not all states are doing the same job. A new study from Center on Budget and Policy Priorities finds that in nearly half of U.S. states with an income tax, a family of four earning below the poverty line still owes taxes. In fact, the number of states that tax poor families of four increased from 17 to 19 in 2005. At the same time, some states are making strides in expanding Earned Income Tax Credits or raising the income tax threshold for families. Check the state-by-state fact sheets to see where your state stands.

Did you know that the Earned Income Tax Credit lifts more families above poverty than any other federal program? Corporate Voices for Working Families recently released its 2006 Employer Guide that builds on its EITC toolkit and offers tips to get the word out to low-wage employees about federal programs that help with tax credits, health care, food, and home heating costs.

The idea is simple: Just require that school districts spend 65 percent of their budgets on 'in the classroom' expenses. That, say supporters, would shift about $14 billion dollars a year towards those expenses without requiring any actual increases in school spending. Connect for Kids Editor Susan Phillips reports that the idea is catching hold across the country, but that opposition is also growing.

As he prepares to deliver his State of the Union address on January 31, President Bush is talking about recent good news on job creation and economic growth. Meanwhile, Congress is preparing to vote on a new budget and new tax cuts. But in this column, Connect for Kids Advocacy Director Jan Richter says many ordinary families aren't benefiting from this recovery.

Arguing that giving low-wage workers a long-overdue pay raise is a moral imperative, this 2005 report commissioned by American Friends Service Committee and the National Council of Churches calls on Congress to raise the minimum wage.