S.F. State wrestlers keep school in the national spotlight, San Francisco Chronicle
With little money or spectator interest, coach keeps recruiting the top talent.

Mother's love leads to literacy program, Press-Enterprise
Wading through a school district bureaucracy to get appropriate tutoring for her son Adam so frustrated Jane Lyon that she turned to another neighborhood school, Cal State San Bernardino.

Events to highlight black history at CSUSM, North County Times
Cal State San Marcos celebrates the start of Black History Month this week as student dancers sound off with rhythmic stomping at the Dome and the university community puts time aside to look at where the region and the nation stands now on the 50th anniversary of the Supreme Court decision that led to the integration of the public schools.

FREE SPEECH?, Monterey Herald
A CSU-Monterey Bay student says his First Amendment rights were violated when he was fired from his job with the campus police for staging a silent protest during a speech by university President Peter Smith.

Activists want independence in assessing school cuts, Monterey Herald
Academics and activists gathered Friday in Seaside to send a message to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger: Don't cut the education budget, but if you do, don't tell us how to spend it.

University president's first task: listening, San Diego Union-Tribune
Haynes brings cautious style to CSU San Marcos.

College officials prepare for worst, Fresno Bee
Tenure might not be a safety net if layoffs occur at Fresno State.

Cal State Bonds Taken Off Credit Watch List, Los Angeles Times
The California State University system, the largest state-run university network in the U.S., had its credit rating removed from possible downgrade by Moody's Investors Service.

... and Another Caught the Wave, Chronicle of Higher Education
By the late 1990s, the University of California at Irvine had already embarked on a plan to expand its biomedical-research activities -- well timed to catch a wave of money coming from the National Institutes of Health.

UC lab contract extended, Oakland Tribune
University of California on Friday signed a one-year contract extension to continue managing the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory on behalf of the U.S. Department of Energy.

Textbooks pricing out UC students, San Diego Union-Tribune
The rising cost of college textbooks is drawing renewed anger from students, faculty, legislators and activists.

Tuition plan angers some college students, Oakland Tribune
Students bound for CSU, UC may get free ride at 2-year schools.

Teacher housing crisis a myth, San Jose Mercury-News
For years, Silicon Valley has taken as gospel that teachers are among those hardest hit by the region's housing crisis.

Students to fight book prices, San Jose Mercury-News
As the cost of college climbs, California students are organizing to push back against one of their perennial complaints: the high price of textbooks.

Students frustrated as new features raise the price of college textbooks, Turlock Journal
The cost of college textbooks is rising as publishers increasingly bundle CDs, videos and study guides with books and issue new editions that make used copies obsolete, a consumer group and a state lawmaker charged on Thursday. Students and staff at California State University, Stanislaus, are noticing the increases as well.

Stipend Helps Students Aim for College, Los Angeles Times
Underprivileged Santa Ana juniors get $150 a month to aid them in focusing on studies.

Trustees to ratify pact to cut teachers, Sacramento Bee
Elk Grove Unified School District trustees are scheduled to ratify an agreement Monday with the teachers union that would eliminate resource teachers in exchange for class-size reduction in grades four through six.

Possible thaw in ACLU schools suit, Sacramento Bee
The state has spent more than $18 million for attorneys, expert witnesses and other legal costs the past four years fighting a lawsuit that challenges the adequacy of its public school system -- and the case remains months from trial, records show.

Schools suit settlement called near, Contra Costa Times
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's administration has been working behind the scenes to settle a groundbreaking class-action lawsuit that demands the state improve inferior conditions in schools serving a million poor and minority California students.

Paving a new schools path, Sacramento Bee
Governor takes steps to overhaul state education funding.

Hancock considers dorm project, San Luis Obispo Tribune
Allan Hancock College could build its first dormitory by 2006, with the help of the development company that dropped out earlier this month from a large student housing project at Cal Poly.

Please Leave, Already, Chronicle of Higher Education
Lack of space and high costs are forcing states to push students through more quickly.

In Baby Boomlet, Number of New High-School Graduates Is Projected to Rise, Chronicle of Higher Education
The number of students graduating from high school in the United States will continue to rise steadily over the coming years, reaching a peak of 3.2 million in 2008-9, according to a report released last week.

Ex-Teachers Union Chief Gets 9 Years, Washington Post
Former Washington Teachers' Union president Barbara A. Bullock was sentenced yesterday to nine years in prison after telling a federal judge that chronic depression led her to steal millions of dollars in teachers' dues to pay for her own furs, jewelry and designer clothes.

Concerns simmer over student drug testing, CNN/AP
Sixteen-year-old Garrett Dush says he doesn't take drugs and wouldn't mind being tested for them at school under a program being championed by President Bush.

Opinion: Sad time for higher education , Bakersfield Californian
Now that our new governor has released his 2004-05 proposed budget, it is important to point out the impact it will have on higher education generally and specifically on the California State University. [By President Arciniega.]

Letters to the Editor, Turlock Journal
Don't characterize students because of one incident.

Editorial: Merit pay worth a look, USA Today
Public schools traditionally pay teachers based on how long they've been in the classroom rather than on how well they've taught their students.

Daniel Weintraub: The prognosis for Medi-Cal: A consensus looks unlikely, Sacramento Bee
Kim Belshe, the governor's secretary of Health and Human Services, put it bluntly: The state's increasing level of spending on health care for the poor cannot be sustained, she said.

Dan Walters: It's Schwarzenegger's energy vs. Legislature's lethargy, Sacramento Bee
Were the Legislature subjected to the operational scrutiny that it applies to other state agencies and programs, however, its efficiency would never pass muster. It tends to function at only two speeds -- lethargy and panic -- and neither is conducive to well-reasoned decision-making.

Dan Walters: A Super Bowl of ballot measures awaits November voters, Sacramento Bee
Although the initiative process -- bypassing the Legislature by gathering signatures on petitions and submitting a measure to voters -- had been in the constitution for 60-plus years, it was rarely utilized.

Letters to the Editor, Ventura County Star
Housing subsidies wrong. [Targets CSU Channel Islands' program.]

Editorial: Bonds We Dislike, but Need, Los Angeles Times
Voters confronting the California ballot March 2 will be faced with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's $15-billion debt-financing bond measure, Proposition 57, on top of a giant $12.3-billion state school bond issue.

George Skelton: Governor Lays Out Truth, Sometimes Stretches It, Los Angeles Times
We're hearing both candor and claptrap as Schwarzenegger peddles Propositions 57 and 58 on the March 2 ballot.

Editorial: What test?, San Diego Union-Tribune
Education standards in California are rapidly becoming a parody of themselves. Six months ago, the state Board of Education bailed out on the high school exit exam for fear that many students would fail to earn their diplomas. Several days ago, the California State University system disclosed that most of its incoming freshmen still lack basic academic skills.

Davis shows there is life after recall, Sacramento Bee
There is life after recall. Less than four months after becoming the first big-state governor in American history to be recalled by popular vote, former Gov. Gray Davis looks and sounds relaxed, philosophical, perhaps even a bit relieved.

Coalition launching education bond push, San Diego Union-Tribune
A broad coalition is mounting a well-financed campaign to pass $12.3 billion in school bonds on the March 2 ballot, saying Proposition 55 is needed to repair run-down schools and ease overcrowding.

Battle Builds Over Workers' Comp, Los Angeles Times
A bruising initiative campaign is certain if the governor's proposal stalls in the Legislature.

NOTE: For additional political coverage, visit the Rough & Tumble website.

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