Associated Press

 John McCain, the father of private school students, criticized Democratic rival Barack Obama on Friday for choosing private over public school for his kids.

Community leaders on Monday called on students from poorer parts of Chicago to protest inequalities in school funding by skipping the first day of classes.

AP - The nation's largest steroids testing program caught only two Texas high school athletes taking unauthorized substances out of more than 10,000 students who were tested, according to results issued Wednesday.

By The Associated Press, Montgomery Advertiser
A college loan program creat­ed by the Alabama Legislature in 1955 to honor Confederate Lt. Gen. Thomas "Stonewall" Jack­son is still handing out money - much to the surprise of black legislators who consider it an outdated relic.

AP - John McCain told the NAACP and some skeptical black voters Wednesday that he will expand education opportunities, partly through vouchers for low-income children to attend private school.

Sen. John McCain intends to talk about how teachers are paid and tutoring for poor kids when he goes before the NAACP convention next week.

By NANCY ZUCKERBROD
Six states are getting the OK to write their own prescriptions for ailing schools under the Bush administration's signature education law. It's a softening from how No Child Left Behind currently works — with schools having to take certain steps at specific times for missing math and reading testing goals.

By NANCY ZUCKERBROD
WASHINGTON (AP) — For kids to do better in math, their teachers might have to go back to school. Elementary-school teachers are poorly prepared by education schools to teach math, finds a study being released Thursday by the National Council on Teacher Quality. Math relies heavily on cumulative knowledge, making the early years critical.

This week, they approved a a plan that lets students pick from three options: a national test, state assessments or a local version, such as a student portfolio, to show colleges and employers they have mastered reading, writing, applied math and speaking skills. Passage on any one of the three, along with fulfilling course requirements, would guarantee a diploma.

Truman Kilpatrick, 10, is in the fourth grade at Williams-Ledger Elementary School in the Copperas Cove Independent School District, but he reads at a kindergarten level. That's because Truman suffers from dyslexia, a neurological learning disorder that impairs word recognition and decoding abilities.

A federal judge has set a Monday response deadline for an attorney representing parents and students in a lawsuit against Norman Public Schools
In the lawsuit, parents claim their special needs children suffered physical abuse while students in the Norman school system.

Paul Vallas recently passed his first major milestone when fourth- and eighth-graders in the city's woeful public schools posted significantly higher test scores on state tests.

CANNES, France (AP) - The French film "The Class," a frank tale about classroom life using real students and teachers at a junior high school, won top honors Sunday at the Cannes Film Festival.

WASHINGTON — Pink slips for principals and teachers. School-funded tutoring for poor kids. Schools are increasingly looking at those kind of consequences for failing to raise math and reading scores.

A new epidemiological study suggests that a link exists between vaccines containing Thimerosal and several neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism spectrum disorder (ASD).