Today's lesson: It's never too early to start making plans to attend college, San Gabriel Valley Tribune
The school year hasn't even started but it's still not too early for high school freshmen to be thinking about college.

Latest Internet worm not hurting Chico State too badly, Chico Enterprise-Record
A computer infection that is attacking systems all over the world is a concern, but not a huge problem at Chico State University.

HSU professor honored for community service, Eureka Times-Standard
A Humboldt State University professor has received a national award for her work connecting community service with coursework.

The story behind Torrey Pines miracle, San Diego Union-Tribune
Ignoring the heat wave, physicist Bob Dynes, who becomes University of California president in October, has overlooked his summer vacation.

$340 million plan for arts in schools, San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco mayoral candidate Tom Ammiano is proposing to help the city's public schools pay for arts, library and sports programs by granting what could amount to $340 million in City Hall funds over the next decade.

Bond retry in the works, San Gabriel Valley Tribune
After suffering a stinging disappointment when voters narrowly rejected a $194 million campus improvement bond measure last year, Rio Hondo College officials are gearing up to put a similar measure on the ballot, possibly as early as next spring.

At This School, Life Is Framed by the Arts, Los Angeles Times
The summer program in Valencia immerses 517 students in dance, film and video, music, theater and other subjects.

States sticking with high-school exit exams, study says, USA Today/AP
High-school exit exams are on the rise and getting tougher, despite backpedaling in some states and backlash over students denied diplomas, a study finds.

The 'Zero Dropout' Miracle: Alas! Alack! A Texas Tall Tale, New York Times
Robert Kimball, an assistant principal at Sharpstown High School, sat smack in the middle of the "Texas miracle." His poor, mostly minority high school of 1,650 students had a freshman class of 1,000 that dwindled to fewer than 300 students by senior year. And yet — and this is the miracle — not one dropout to report!

Letter to Colleges From Education Department Says Anti-Harassment Rules Should Respect Free Speech, Chronicle of Higher Education
Colleges may not violate the U.S. Constitution's free-speech guarantees in an effort to bar harassment on their campuses, according to a letter sent last week by the Education Department to colleges and universities across the country.

Well-Known Colleges Are Among Hundreds That Failed to Complete Key Federal Survey; Some Face Fines, Chronicle of Higher Education
A majority of postsecondary institutions that did not complete a key federal survey required by law were little-known beauty schools, but the list of colleges that failed to submit the data also includes well-known campuses like Alfred, Gonzaga, and Kentucky State Universities, Mount Holyoke College, and the University of Washington at Seattle.

Peter Schrag: School test scores: Linking, blinking and nod, Sacramento Bee
Anybody who thinks that student achievement test scores and school accountability measures should be easily comprehensible is likely to get a shock this week as California publishes the latest results of its STAR test and reports on its Average Yearly Progress.

Opinion: Picketing 101, Wall St. Journal
Just when you thought our universities -- with their multiculti curricula, anti-Americanism and intolerance of debate -- couldn't possibly get any more partisan, along comes the next new thing: the labor movement's successful co-opting of academic departments and programs.

Dan Walters: Steinberg's tax swap could have adverse long-term consequences, Sacramento Bee
Assemblyman Darrell Steinberg proposes to repeal the huge increase in property taxes on cars (vehicle license fees) that the Davis administration imposed a couple of months ago under pressure from Steinberg and his fellow Democrats, and offset it with boosts in cigarette taxes and income taxes on high-income Californians.

Editorial: Logic Spins Out on Car Tax, Los Angeles Times
Politicians often chide their foes by saying they "can't have it both ways." It's a way of accusing them of talking out of both sides of their mouths, or trying to have their cake and eat it too. But nothing slows down the spin machines. Take the car tax, for instance.

Davis favors car-tax rollback, Sacramento Bee
He says raising levies on top wage-earners and tobacco would undo an unintended injustice.

Ex-governor plays surrogate, San Francisco Chronicle
Former Gov. Pete Wilson is quickly becoming the political face for Arnold Schwarzenegger, moving everything from his political team to his policy positions into the actor's camp.

California's Embattled Governor Gains a New Adviser: Bill Clinton, New York Times
Bill Clinton feels Gray Davis's pain. The former president of the United States has a book to finish and a presidential library to open. But the crisis that has befallen Mr. Davis, the California governor facing a recall election on Oct. 7, has commanded his attention.

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