By Becky Bohrer, The Associated Press, Anchorage Daily News

Students could attend private or religious schools with state-sponsored scholarships under a measure being considered by Alaska lawmakers.

By Crystal Bonvillian, The Birmingham News

Alabama’s education system ranks 34th in the nation in student performance and progress, according to a report released earlier today.

By The Associated Press, Montgomery Advertiser

Authorities say some Jefferson County Schools will remain closed on Wednesday as a result of this week’s tornadoes.

By John Lyon, Arkansas News Bureau

The state Department of Human Services today released a proposed rule clarifying that state funding for pre-kindergarten education must not be used for religious activities.

By Corey G. Johnson, California Watch

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Torlakson, the California State Board of Education, the state Department of Education and the attorney general’s office all want a judge to drop a lawsuit that seeks to hold the state accountable for school districts that illegally charge students to participate in classes and extracurricular activities.

By Carla Rivera, Los Angeles Times

The chairman of California State University’s governing board said Tuesday that he will propose capping raises for new executives at 10% in the wake of stinging criticism over recent salary decisions.

By Matt Krupnick, The Mercury News (San Jose)

Think you don’t have the grades or test scores for the University of California or California State University?

By Anthony York, Los Angeles Times

An overwhelming majority of California voters support Gov. Jerry Brown’s idea of hiking taxes to raise more money for schools, but they’d much rather he ask somebody else to foot the bill.

By Dan Walters, The Sacramento Bee

The state budget contains hundreds of specific provisions but none is bigger, more complicated, more politicized, more emotional – or more important – than the 30 or so billion dollars that it spends on K-12 education.

By Vincent Carroll, The Denver Post

You wouldn’t know it from Judge Sheila Rappaport’s recent finding that Colorado schools are unconstitutionally underfunded, but money isn’t everything in producing high-achieving students. In fact, it’s not even the decisive factor.

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 Ana Radelat, The Connecticut Mirror

Washington — In his address to the nation Tuesday night, President Obama called for a rebirth of manufacturing, a fairer tax system and a stronger community college system.

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 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 David DeCamp, The Miami Herald

Florida college students can brace for higher tuition bills again come fall. Florida House leaders proposed raising tuition by 8 percent next year at public colleges and universities as part of a budget unveiled Tuesday.

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 Laura Diamond and Kristina Torres, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Despite losing more than 50 positions over the last two years, the state agency that oversees the HOPE scholarship has seen its budget grow to more than $7.7 million.

By Kristina Torres, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Bills filed Tuesday give students and families a look at changes proposed by Democrats for the state’s HOPE college scholarship.

By Chip Towers, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

A relatively new Georgia Board of Regents policy regulating the admission of undocumented students and illegal immigrants has prevented a football recruit from gaining admission to the University of Georgia.

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 The Associated Press, The Republic (Columbus)

State education officials say they remain committed to developing a teacher evaluation system that will help secure a Race to the Top grant.

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 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 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 Andrew Thomason, Illinois Statehouse News

Illinois’ 12 percent increase in higher education spending this year isn’t going to benefit students. Instead, the additional funding for fiscal 2012 is going into the State Universities Retirement System, or SURS, to address its underfunded pension program.

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 Eric Bradner, Evansville Courier and Press

Indiana could spend an extra $80 million to cover the full cost of providing full-day kindergarten under a measure a key Republican lawmaker is proposing.

By The Associated Press, Northwest Indiana Times (Munster)

Thousands of students could pour into the country’s broadest private school voucher program if Indiana legislators drop a requirement that children spend at least one year in public schools before becoming eligible.

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 Will Sentell, The Advocate (Baton Rouge)

Gov. Bobby Jindal highlighted his push to expand state aid for students to attend private or parochial schools Tuesday by having lunch with a group of Baton Rouge area mothers who said they want more school options.

By Will Sentell, The Advocate (Baton Rouge)

Gov. Bobby Jindal highlighted his push to expand state aid for students to attend private or parochial schools Tuesday by having lunch with a group of Baton Rouge area mothers who said they want more school options.

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

A day after teachers unions blasted the rhetoric Gov. Bobby Jindal used in rolling out his plan to overhaul the state education system, the governor fired back and said he was offended by a comment a union official made about school vouchers. The comment, by Louisiana Association of Educators Executive Director Michael Walker-Jones, suggested that parents may not have the resources to make informed decisions about their children’s schools.

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 The Associated Press, Boston Herald

Gov. Deval Patrick’s proposed state budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1 will include increased funding for programs aimed at helping struggling students in the state’s most financially strapped cities.

By The Associated Press, The Boston Globe

A new report says Massachusetts has some of the strongest policies for preparing teachers, but remains weak at identifying effective educators. The report is being released Wednesday by a national group that tracks state policies that ensure teacher quality.

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 Julie Scharper, The Sun (Baltimore)

Baltimore City’s schools chief told state legislators Tuesday that he hopes to borrow $1.2 billion— six times more than the school system’s current bonding authority — to pay for a massive and rapid overhaul of the city’s crumbling public school buildings.

By Liz Bowie, The Sun (Baltimore)

Concerned about the high numbers of student suspensions, state school board members are proposing an overhaul of discipline codes that would move away from zero-tolerance policies.

By Eric Russell, Bangor Daily News

Gov. Paul LePage set out an ambitious but familiar agenda during his first State of the State address on Tuesday, defending the achievements of his first year while pledging to tackle high energy costs, create more educational opportunities and continue government belt-tightening.

By Eric Russell, Bangor Daily News

Lawmakers on the Education Committee voted unanimously Tuesday to approve a bill that would strengthen Maine’s anti-bullying efforts.

By Eric Russell, Bangor Daily News

Gov. Paul LePage set out an ambitious but familiar agenda during his first State of the State address on Tuesday, defending the achievements of his first year while pledging to tackle high energy costs, create more educational opportunities and continue government belt-tightening.

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 Rob South, mlive.com

Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder will be listening to President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address tonight for ways he’ll fix the economy, smooth immigration police and encourage foreign investment.

By Dave Murray, mlive.com

High school students should be forced to stay in high school until they graduate or turn 18, President Barack Obama said in his State of the Union address.

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 Jordan Schapiro, The Columbia Missourian

The budget cuts to higher education announced at Gov. Jay Nixon’s State of the State address last Tuesday are deeper than the numbers presented by the governor’s budget director and reported by the media.

By Celia Ampel, The Columbia Missourian

COLUMBIA, Mo. — With a vote on tuition and fees looming, the futures of two University of Missouri System curators are in doubt this week — again.

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 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 Jessica Bakeman, The Clarion-Ledger (Jackson)

Gov. Phil Bryant on Tuesday pledged to improve Mississippians’ health, reduce the state’s teen pregnancy rates, foster economic development and reform education in a policy-packed State of the State speech.

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 Staff, The Union Leader (Manchester)

The American Legislative Exchange Council’s latest education ranking of states says New Hampshire’s public schools slipped from fourth to ninth place in 2011. The comprehensive report ranks all 50 states and the District of Columbia, based on national test scores, state education policy, charter school regulation, and other benchmarks of quality.

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 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 Michael Martinez, The Reno Gazette-Journal

The binding arbitration ruling on Friday that pre-empted a 2.5 percent pay cut for Washoe County teachers may have a ripple effect that will be felt for the remainder of this year and the biennium, said school district and union officials who have analyzed the situation.

By The Associated Press, Times Union (Albany)

New York has made some progress in its efforts to improve teacher quality, ranking 13th out of the 50 states and the District of Columbia in a report released Wednesday. New York received a C, up from D-plus two years ago, in the report by the National Council on Teacher Quality.

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 Catherine Candisky, The Columbus Dispatch

Ohio is about to launch its fourth tax-funded education-voucher program, this one for students with special needs.

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 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 Tom Barnes, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

As 50 placard-holding students from the ailing Chester Upland schools looked on, Republican and Democratic senators urged Gov. Tom Corbett Tuesday to develop a workable plan to aid financially distressed school districts.

By Jan Murphy, The Patriot-News (Harrisburg)

Penn State Faculty Senate voted 128-58 to reject the no-confidence vote in the board of trustees’ ability to conduct its statutory duty.

By Charles Thompson and Jan Murphy, The Patriot-News (Harrisburg)

Joe Paterno’s family says Gov. Tom Corbett is welcome to attend Thursday’s memorial service for the legendary Penn State football coach.

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 The Associated Press, The Providence Journal

Rhode Island is among the states that have made the most strides on teacher-quality policies in the last two years, a national education-research group said Wednesday.

By The Associated Press, The Providence Journal

Rhode Island is among the states that have made the most strides on teacher-quality policies in the last two years, a national education-research group said Wednesday.

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 The Associated Press, Rapid City Journal

A proposal to create a tax district to build student housing for the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology has cleared its first hurdle.

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 Clay Bailey, The Commercial Appeal, The Tennessean (Nashville)

State Rep. Curry Todd, R-Collierville, filed a bill in Nashville on Tuesday that would transfer Shelby County school buildings to new municipal school districts. The bill would make it easier for new school districts to form, thus avoiding an impending consolidation with Memphis schools.

By Staff, The Austin American-Statesman

We welcome actions by Austin school district trustees to award schools $16 million in leftover bond funds for renovations, repairs and maintenance.

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.

, The Associated Press

America’s public school teachers are seeing their generations-old tenure protections weakened as states seek flexibility to fire teachers who aren’t performing.

By Kimberly Hefling, The Idaho Statesman (Boise)

WASHINGTON — America’s public school teachers are seeing their generations-old tenure protections weakened as states seek flexibility to fire teachers who aren’t performing. A few states have essentially nullified tenure protections altogether, according to an analysis being released Wednesday by the National Council on Teacher Quality.

By Ladd Brubaker, Deseret Morning News (Salt Lake City)

What does the demise of Geneva Steel have to do with the future of Harvard University — or for that matter, Utah’s system of higher education?

By Dennis Romboy, Deseret Morning News (Salt Lake City)

ROOSEVELT, Utah — Lora Murphy and her husband have lived in their home for the past 38 years. Besides their place, there’s only one other house on the two-lane road just outside the Roosevelt city limits.

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 Jason Stein, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

The Wisconsin Senate approved a bill Tuesday that would limit the ability of public school teachers and staff to seclude or physically restrain students. The bill now goes to the Assembly.

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.