Yes, I too am incredibly sick of hearing about the fiscal cliff. The fact that negotiations don't seem to be going anywhere and that we're all just waiting for Congress to do something does make it hard to care.

But then I tell myself that if we do go over the cliff it could be the single biggest federal government action affecting low-income families since welfare reform, and I have to care.

So if it's going down what should you know? One resource is the Urban Institutes' Fiscal Cliff Toolkit. It's a guide that in plain language explains some of the cuts to entitlement programs being talked about. The  Urban Institute comes from left-of-center, so for those of you looking for another perspective the Heritage Foundation has put together something similar.  

Most of the talk now is about Medicare and Social Security, because those are the big ticket items. But, as negotiations move forward, listen closely for talk about some things that could really impact low income kids. There is talk of inclusion of the Farm Bill and food stamp spending. There is also chatter about Medicaid moving to a block grant program administered by the states. In the past, turning federal programs into state run block grant programs has led to more restrictions and fewer people getting benefits.

Lately it seems there have been a lot of documentaries on poverty. Or maybe I'm just finally paying attention.

FRONTLINE's Poor Kids follows three families who live between Iowa and Illinois. The majority of the documentary is told from a child's perspective. 

Yesterday Dustin Dwyer highlighted great reporting by Lindsey Smith on teacher turnover in Muskegon Heights. As Smith reports, students in that already flailing district have yet another educational obstacle. The education system there can't keep teachers from throwing in the towel.

The effect of teacher turnover on student learning is well-documented (unsurprisingly it makes learning more difficult). But I was wondering if a study had been done to find out how much teacher turnover costs districts.

And the answer is, "Of course there's a study on that!"

For the many parents socking money away for college this might be some bad news: sending your newborn child to daycare will cost roughly the same as sending your 18 year-old to college.

So says a report by Child Care Aware of America, a program that links parents to childcare providers across the nation.

Here are some key findings from the report:

If you've been following State of Opportunity over the past couple months, you've probably heard us talk about the Harlem Children's Zone. It's this 100-block zone in central Harlem that's designed to create a safety net so strong and so wide that no child could fall through and fail. The program covers all kids from birth through college. 

  James Heckman is one of the world’s most distinguished economists. He built his career studying the labor market. In 2000, he won the Nobel Prize.

But in recent years, Heckman has become famous for something else. He is now one of the country’s leading advocates for investments in early childhood education. Earlier this month, I had a chance to sit down with him to find out how an economist came to care about preschool.