By Carla Rivera, Los Angeles Times

Chris Lewis hunkered down in front of a laptop at Cal State Long Beach, determined to find a few open psychology classes.

By Brittany Anas, The Boulder Daily Camera

A legislative measure to extend in-state tuition benefits to undocumented students may get an endorsement from the University of Colorado — key support from the flagship school that was missing last year when a similar bill was introduced.

By Tim Hoover, The Denver Post

A Denver district judge erred by ruling that Colorado’s Taxpayer’s Bill of Rights can’t be considered in deciding whether the state’s school funding system is unconstitutional, Attorney General John Suthers argued Monday in an appeal of a landmark education funding decision.

By Tim Hoover, The Denver Post

Two key House Republicans who voted in 2011 against allowing illegal immigrants in Colorado to attend college at lower than out-of-state rates have softened their positions on the idea this year.

By Jacqueline Rabe Thomas, The Connecticut Mirror

The after-effects of the 2011 Penn State child abuse scandal continue here, with both the University of Connecticut and state legislators examining possible policy changes regarding who must report such incidents.

By Shelly Banjo, The Wall Street Journal

Connecticut’s largest teachers union went on offense Sunday in a looming education reform debate, kicking off a television advertising campaign during the New York Giants playoff game.

By Ana Radelat, The Connecticut Mirror

Washington — With federal money drying up, Connecticut’s colleges are rethinking the value of a Washington lobbyist.

By Jacqueline Rabe Thomas, The Connecticut Mirror

Connecticut state university officials hope to lure college-bound students from New York state this fall by offering them in-state tuition rates if they enroll in one of five graduate programs.

By Keith M. Phaneuf, The Connecticut Mirror

The state’s budget isn’t drowning, but its fiscal nose is above water by such a small fraction — 1/134th of 1 percent — it’s almost impossible to see.

By Wade Malcolm, The News Journal (New Castle-Wilmington)

With UD and Delaware State University increasing their emphasis on academic research, the amount of large federal grants flowing into the state has surged, nearly doubling in the past decade, according to a new study released by the National Science Foundation.

By Kathleen McGrory, The Miami Herald

Florida parents are taking sides over a controversial piece of legislation known as the parent trigger. The buzzed-about bill would let a majority of parents at low-performing public schools demand dramatic changes at the school, or even have it converted into a publicly financed, privately managed charter school.

By Kathleen McGrory and Laura Isensee, The Miami Herald

Florida on Monday released its controversial ranking of the state’s 67 school districts, with Miami-Dade landing in a disputed 37th place and Broward 26th. The top spot went to St. Johns County, which includes St. Augustine. Madison County in north Florida ranked last.

By Kathleen McGrory, The Miami Herald

Is the tide turning for education funding? Taking a cue from Gov. Rick Scott, Florida House Speaker Dean Cannon put forth a budget proposal last week that would pump an additional $1 billion into statewide schools spending. The next day, Senate education leaders seem determined to top that figure.

By Kristina Torres, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Georgia’s popular HOPE college scholarship faces its second overhaul in as many years, as Democrats began their push Monday to overshadow last year’s Republican-led reforms.

By Tom Corwin, The Athens Banner-Herald

The move to merge eight colleges and universities in Georgia, including the merger of Gainesville State College and North Georgia College and State University, was highly scripted, heavy on secrecy and short on analysis, at least in records turned over by the University System of Georgia Board of Regents.

By The Associated Press, The Athens Banner-Herald

Almost 2,500 day care programs in Georgia have failed to meet the state’s standards for children’s health and safety at least once in the past four years, according to an analysis of internal records obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

By Kristina Torres and Laura Diamond, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Georgia’s new Zell Miller Scholarship, launched last year by Gov. Nathan Deal to provide full tuition to the state’s highest-achieving students, is likely to be an even bigger drain on an already strained HOPE program as more scholars than expected qualify.

By Staff, The Athens Banner-Herald

Georgians who rely on the HOPE scholarship to help pay for college thought state lawmakers fixed the funding problems last year.

By The Associated Press, The Republic (Columbus)

Hawaii Gov. Neil Abercrombie is using his State of the State address to push the union representing the state’s public school teachers to come up with a contract proposal.

By Jennifer Sinco Kelleher, The Associated Press, The Republic (Columbus)

The fate of Hawaii’s $75 million Race to the Top grant remains uncertain after teachers turned down a proposed contract that would have removed a major stumbling block in delivering on promised reforms.

By Staff, Pacific Business News (Honolulu)

An overwhelming majority of Hawaii’s public school teachers rejected a proposed six-year contract with the state, putting into play the possibility of a strike and placing the state into further jeopardy with a $75 million federal Race to the Top grant.

By The Associated Press, The Muscatine Journal

Gov. Terry Branstad wants to give school administrators more time with teachers, but whether that time is best spent evaluating or coaching the instructors is a point of contention between educators and state officials.

By Mike Wiser, Sioux City Journal

A House subcommittee continued to work its way through the governor’s education reform package Monday, taking up issues that included online learning, principal assistants and a state-run innovation fund.

By The Associated Press, The Muscatine Journal

The children of police, firefighters and other public safety workers who die in the line of duty would receive free health insurance and higher education in Iowa under a plan prompted by the 2011 deaths of a sheriff’s deputy and state trooper.

By Jessie L. Bonner, The Idaho Statesman (Boise)

With more money for higher education included in the governor’s budget recommendation, lawmakers are wondering if Idaho’s public universities will continue to seek tuition increases, as they have in the past several years to help balance their budgets.

By The Associated Press, Idaho State Journal (Pocatello)

Idaho’s new school reform laws have gutted the collective bargaining powers of teachers’ unions, and membership in some of the organizations is waning.

By The Associated Press, Quad-City Times

State Rep. Robert Rita has awarded a four-year college scholarship to the daughter of one of his political allies, a Chicago alderman.

By Heather Hollingsworth, The Columbia Missourian

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Kansas schools would no longer face a 2014 deadline for ensuring 100 percent of their students are faring well on state tests under a waiver the state is seeking from the federal No Child Left Behind education law.

By Laurel Wilson, Bowling Green Daily News

A national education publication recently ranked Kentucky 14th in the nation based on its score on six educational indicators.

By Jeff Adelson, The Times-Picayune (New Orleans)

Two teachers unions fired back at Gov. Bobby Jindal on Monday, taking aim at his proposed education overhaul and accusing him of using misleading and inflammatory rhetoric to attack educators.

By Noah Bierman and Frank Phillips, The Boston Globe

Governor Deval Patrick, speaking last night in his annual State of the Commonwealth address, proposed sweeping changes to the community college system, centralizing authority for 15 campuses and emphasizing job training.

By Jessica Anderson, The Sun (Baltimore)

For a few hours after school, Ryan Johnson is just like most 16-year-olds. He lounges on the couch with his favorite Xbox game or checks his Facebook page. But then reality sets in. He decamps from his cousins’ house for the Howard County cold-weather shelter.

By Nick McCrea, Bangor Daily News

The University of Maine System’s campuses are getting old and most of the buildings on those campuses will start showing their age soon if they haven’t already, according to a company that reviewed statistics on each UMS building.

By Aaron Foley, mlive.com

Gov. Rick Snyder on Friday sent a letter to Highland Park residents, informing them of the public school district’s financial emergency and possible state intervention.

By Staff, The Ann Arbor News

Obama will speak at the U-M Al Glick Field House on Friday. A source familiar with the plan told AnnArbor.com that the speech is expected to take place at around 9:30 a.m.

By Steve Karnowski, The Associated Press, Brainerd Daily Dispatch

The head of the school board in Minnesota’s largest school district said the latest proposed replacement for its policy that requires teachers to stay neutral when issues of sexual orientation come up in class is much better than earlier versions, but he wasn’t ready Monday night to say if he’ll support it.

By Rupa Shenoy, Minnesota Public Radio (St. Paul)

U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan appeared today at events in Minnesota, including a town hall with Gov Mark Dayton and Education Commissioner Brenda Cassellius.

By The Associated Press, The Columbia Missourian

The nomination of a Columbia attorney to the University of Missouri System Board of Curators remains uncertain as state lawmakers continue to question his gubernatorial appointment.

By The Associated Press, Jefferson City News Tribune

CALIFORNIA, Mo. — Gov. Jay Nixon urged Missouri’s public universities on Friday not to seek large tuition increases in response to his proposed funding cuts to their institutions.

By Chris Blank, The Associated Press, The Columbia Missourian

Ending tenure for Missouri public school teachers could be among the most contentious topics debated this year by lawmakers looking at revamping the state’s education system.

By Staff, Kansas City Star

COLUMBIA, Mo. — A St. Louis-area lawmaker wants to reverse a new University of Missouri policy that limits how students can redistribute recorded classroom lectures.

By Ellen Ciurczak, Hattiesburg American

With Republicans in control of the Mississippi House and Senate for the first time since Reconstruction, supporters of charter schools say the most significant education bill to come out of the state Legislature this session could well be a new charter school law.

By Marquita Brown, The Clarion-Ledger (Jackson)

Concerted efforts to make sure Mississippi high school seniors pass state tests needed to graduate appear to be paying off.

By Russel E. Wrigg, Missoulian

Recently there have been articles about the financial state of the public employee retirement systems focusing on the fact that some of the systems are considered “actuarially unsound.”

By Staff, The Union Leader (Manchester)

Legislators introduced companion bills Monday to provide a state business tax credit for contributions to scholarship organizations that help students move from public schools to private schools.

By Staff, newjerseynewsroom.com

Legislation designed to establish a loan redemption program under which teachers could have a portion of their undergraduate loans forgiven by the state in exchange for work at a school in New Jersey was approved Monday by the state Senate Education Committee.

By Staff, The Star-Ledger (Newark)

Imagine approaching a line of starving people with a bullhorn, telling them they must wait for food while you wrangle over whether it’s delivered by the government or a private nonprofit.

By Staff, The Star-Ledger (Newark)

At least a dozen towns will elect their school board members in November under a law signed last week that aims to boost voter turnout for the elections, which typically take place in April.

By Barry Massey, The Associated Press, The Republic (Columbus)

Republican Gov. Susana Martinez’s plans for improving public schools are running into trouble early in the Legislature as a House committee endorsed an education budget Monday that provided no money for several administration initiatives.

By Robert Nott, Santa Fe New Mexican

New Mexico got a C twice last week. On Jan. 10, the state’s Public Education Department released preliminary data for New Mexico’s roughly 830 schools under the new A-to-F grading system: 32 percent received A’s and B’s, 32 percent received C’s, and 36 percent received D’s and F’s. Overall, the state earned a C.

By The Associated Press, The Reno Gazette-Journal

LAS VEGAS — Nevada Chancellor Dan Klaich is proposing a way to revamp how money is distributed to the state’s colleges and universities, an effort to resolve disputes between Northern and Southern Nevada campuses and make the formula more equitable.

By Scott Waldman, Tampa Bay Times

In the near future, some school districts are not going to be able to pay their bills. Even though schools will see a $805 million boost in aid this year, it’s not enough to ward off the dire times ahead for some, state Education Commissioner John King said at budget hearing Monday.

By Cara Matthews, Democrat and Chronicle (Rochester)

Beneath all the debate, negotiations and legal wrangling about New York’s new teacher-evaluation system is the question of whether teachers and students will be better off in the end.

By Reginald Fields, The Plain Dealer (Cleveland)

With his administration under fire and his motives questioned this week for suddenly leaving the long-planned Inner Belt Bridge project shortchanged, Gov. John Kasich on Friday fired back.

By Megan Rolland, Kaiser Health News

State schools Superintendent Janet Barresi reassured online followers Monday that Oklahoma’s waiver from the No Child Left Behind Act wouldn’t be a step away from accountability.

By Staff, The Oklahoman (Oklahoma City)

The year 2012 has little chance of being mundane and every opportunity to influence Oklahoma not only short-term, but also in the long-term of education, politics, business, culture, sports, entertainment and so much more.

By Betsy Hammond, The Oregonian (Portland)

Gov. John Kitzhaber and his education team are seeking the most specific step so far to change education in Oregon: They want the Legislature to require every school district and community college to sign a yearly “achievement compact” spelling out key results it will try to deliver.

By Jennifer Storm, The Patriot-News (Harrisburg)

I spent more than two years living directly behind Joe Paterno during my time as a student at Penn State. I walked by his house many times a day on my way to and from campus. This was a fact I was proud of and often would share with people. Mostly, I was proud to be somehow connected to the famed and beloved coach.

By The Associated Press, The Patriot-News (Harrisburg)

Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett has ordered the state’s flags lowered to half-staff in honor of legendary Penn State coach Joe Paterno.

By The Associated Press, The Patriot-News (Harrisburg)

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama has offered his condolences to the family of legendary Penn State football coach Joe Paterno, who died Sunday of lung cancer.

By Bob Flounders, The Patriot-News (Harrisburg)

The Lion King is dead. Joseph Vincent Paterno’s unique and seemingly never-ending story has finally ended with the death of college football’s greatest coach at the age of 85.

By Staff, The Patriot-News (Harrisburg)

Legendary Penn State football coach Joe Paterno passed away today at the age of 85. A number of colleagues, former players, alumni and fans have shared their memories of Paterno and expressed their condolences for his family.

By Sara Ganim, The Patriot-News (Harrisburg)

It would have been a dramatic scene: Joe Paterno on the stand. One of those celebrity court moments that would have drawn talking heads from around the country to analyze every word.

By Jan Murphy, The Patriot-News (Harrisburg)

The Penn State University board of trustees tried to demonstrate that an era of reform is underway.

By Staff, The Patriot-News (Harrisburg)

We Americans prefer our heroes to be flawless. Morally spotless. Emotionally strong. Men and women of action who move like lightning with rock-solid judgment. But our real-life heroes are not Superman. They are people such as Joe Paterno.

By Ted Nesi, WPRI

Rhode Island boosted public spending on higher education by more than any other state in the country this year after slashing it by double-digits during the recession, a new study shows.

By Josh Verges, Argus Leader (Sioux Falls)

Two weeks after Gov. Dennis Daugaard said South Dakota wasn’t getting enough bang for its education buck, the state’s largest school district is fighting back.

By Ben Philpott, The Texas Tribune

Texas lawmakers on Monday reviewed how schools are planning to implement a new standardized testing system, and they came armed with plenty of questions.

By Matthew Haag, The Dallas Morning News

North Texas students who have dropped out or considered it tend to have disengaged parents, find school boring and believe they are too far behind to ever graduate, a new report by the Community Council of Greater Dallas has found.

By Ralph K.M. Haurwitz, The Austin American-Statesman

The Texas Supreme Court’s recent decision to forgo review of a case involving Austin Community College cleared the way for financing and construction of a campus in Kyle.

By Christine Armario, The Associated Press, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

MIAMI — State funding for higher education has declined because of a slow recovery from the recession and the end of federal stimulus money, according to a study released Monday.

By Doug Lederman, Inside Higher Ed

The news will come as no surprise to the public college administrators and faculty members who’ve seen their budgets slashed over the past year. But an annual study of state spending on higher education finds that state appropriations for colleges and students sunk by 7.6 percent in 2011-12, the largest such decline in at least a half century.

By Nancy Folbre, The New York Times

Newborn children can’t choose the states in which they grow up any more than they can choose the size of their parents’ bank accounts. But voters in every state choose how much to spend on public programs benefiting children, with telling results.

By Rosemary Winters, The Salt Lake Tribune

Parents would see fewer students in kindergarten through third-grade classrooms under a proposed bill that earned preliminary approval Monday from the Senate Education Committee.

By Matt Sutkoski, Burlington Free Press

A surge in whooping cough cases in Vermont has schools watching students carefully for signs of the highly contagious disease.

By Molly Walsh, Burlington Free Press

The proposed school budget for next year includes funding for the first year of a four-year phase-in that would provide portable computers or iPads to all 1,900 middle and high school students in the city school district.

By Phil Kabler, Charleston Gazette

State Treasurer John Perdue asked legislators on Monday to provide $250,000 of additional funding for the treasurer’s office in the 2012-13 budget, in order to continue financial education programs in public schools.

By Staff, Casper Star-Tribune

A ?yearly report compiled by the Wyoming Department of Education attempts to figure out how school districts spend state and federal money. In theory, it’s a good exercise in government accountability.

By Bob Moen, The Associated Press, The Republic (Columbus)

Sixty-three percent of Wyoming’s public school students in kindergarten through third grades are in classes exceeding the state’s new student-to-teacher ratio.

By The Associated Press, The Republic (Columbus)

LARAMIE, Wyo. — University of Wyoming officials plan to ask trustees in March to approve tuition rates for a two-year period.