California

"President Barack Obama's proposed budget for fiscal year 2015 includes a big-ticket expense: $75 billion over the next 10 years to help states provide free pre-kindergarten education to millions of low- and moderate-income 4-year-olds."

"It's a challenge that's ratcheting up pressure on educators who struggle to aid students who have fallen years behind their classmates after a lifetime of bouncing between hotels, shelters and cramped multi-family apartments."

"The state's new formula for funding schools is a tremendous gift for districts that enroll large numbers of disadvantaged students. But it's not quite the giveaway some of them had expected."

"A record 2,200 students attending Solano County public schools were homeless this past year, a nearly 40 percent increase from the previous year and a nearly four-fold increase since 2010-11, the Solano County Office of Education reported."

"Universities aren't required to track homelessness, so the exact size of the problem is unknown. But more than 33,000 students nationwide declared themselves homeless on federal student aid applications last year, the first time the question was included."

"The eight-hour session dealt with two big issues: What to do about the beleaguered iPad project, and whom to favor in passing out federal funds earmarked for low-income kids."