US News :
Math, English classes could be standardized (AP)

In this Friday, Feb. 12, 2010 photo, first grader Victoria Bernade copies a sentence as teacher Lori Peck goes over sentence structure during class at Grace L. Patterson Elementary school in Vallejo, Calif.  The nation's public schools are falling under severe financial stress as states slash education spending and drain federal stimulus money that staved off deep classroom cuts and widespread job losses. (AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli)AP - Students across the nation might eventually use the same math and English textbooks and take the same tests if states adopt new rigorous standards proposed Wednesday by governors and education leaders.


Once-revered SC lawmaker freezes to death alone (AP)

FILE - Juanita Goggins is seen in a 1974 file photo in Rock Hill, S.C. Goggins was the first black woman elected to the the South Carolina Legislature  in 1974, and was hailed as a trailblazer at the time. Three decades later, Goggins died alone and freezing in the home she rented for 16 years, just four miles from the gleaming Statehouse dome.  (AP Photo/File)AP - When Juanita Goggins became the first black woman elected to the South Carolina Legislature in 1974, she was hailed as a trailblazer and twice visited the president at the White House.