Quick Hits

Schwarzenegger seeks education cuts: California schools could eliminate a week of instruction and increase class sizes next year under Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's new plan for solving the state's budget crisis. (Sacramento Bee)

Grad school looking good to jobless: Undergraduates unable to find jobs tend to gravitate toward academic programs during times of economic trouble. So do individuals who have been in the work force but are looking to retrain for a new career. (Seattle Times)

Success gap: High grades, high stress for Asian-American students in Bay Area:
A = Average;
B = Bad;
C = Catastrophe;
D = Disowned;
F = Forever Forgotten
Many Asian parents, especially well-educated immigrants, set sky-high expectations for their children. And while that drive to achieve has put Asian students as a group at the top of the class, it's also forcing some uncomfortable conversations within the Asian community about the damage those demands may cause. (San Jose Mercury News)

Former tagger now teaches art: John Estrada puts his aerosol expertise to work teaching graffiti painters how to steer away from street vandalism and apply their skills to legitimate artwork. On a quiet Sunday morning, a man wearing baggy shorts and a black hoodie stood in a parking lot and pulled out a can of spray paint. (Los Angeles Times)

Obama pledges schools upgrade in stimulus plan: Barack Obama probably cannot fix every leaky roof and busted boiler in the nation's schools. But educators say his sweeping school modernization program — if he spends enough — could jump-start student achievement. (Associated Press)

Make classroom meltdowns fade away: A child psychiatrist says collaborative problem solving helps address the real problem when kids act up at school. Trips to the principal's office, suspensions and detentions remain the primary tools educators use to handle troubled, disruptive children. But as many parents will attest, they can be woefully inadequate in changing kids' behaviour. (Globe and Mail)

Oregon woman, 88, gives naked intruder the 'squeeze': The Multnomah County Sheriff's Office said an 88-year-old woman fended off a naked intruder by grabbing the man's crotch and squeezing. (Herald-Leader)

Possible air hazards rarely considered in plans for schools: The battle over whether to build Bayyari Elementary School ... No one considered whether high levels of toxic chemicals might be in the air. No law told them they should. Had parents, school officials or regulators checked pollution reports from area companies on file with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, they might have noticed that the school sits in a section of the city where the air appeared to be tainted by toxic chemicals such as chromium and nickel. (USA Today)

States wrestle with how to fund federal sex offender law: An effort to create uniform nationwide standards for how to keep track of sex offenders has stalled largely because states being asked to comply with the new federal guidelines can't or won't pay the costs. (Dallas Morning News)

Former Sen. Pell, College Grant Creator, Dies At 90: Claiborne Pell, the six-term U.S. senator who created a program that helped tens of millions of Americans attend college, has died. He was 90. His family noted that the Rhode Island senator defined his job in seven words: "Translate ideas into actions and help people." (NPR)

Historically Black College Fights To Stay Alive: Morris Brown College may not open its doors to students in the spring. The historically black college in Atlanta faces mounting bills as students, parents and faculty weigh an uncertain future. Stanley Pritchet, the school's acting president, discusses the crisis at Morris Brown. (NPR)

Twins born on separate days, months, years: They're twins, all right, despite what their spanking new birth certificates say. (MSNBC)

Questions raised about inquiry into PRP player's death: The athletic director for Jefferson County Public Schools said he wasn't qualified to investigate the death of a Pleasure Ridge Park High School student who collapsed during football practice and later died, according to his deposition filed in Jefferson Circuit Court. (Courier-Journal)