The News

money.cnn.com — Sallie Mae, the nation's largest student lender, spent $640,000 lobbying in the second quarter for government help to shore up the troubled student loan market and on legislation related to other issues affecting the industry, according to a recent disclosure report. The company lobbied on access to capital for student lenders and a variety of legislation touching on student lending, education spending and banking. Congress sets the interest rates borrowers pay and the subsidy levels lenders receive under the federal student loan program. Lawmakers last year cut about $20 billion in federal subsidies to lenders to pay for increases in student aid. That cut into lenders' profits, as did the credit crunch, making it expensive to raise the capital they need to offer student loans.

usatoday.com — The troubled economy may be prompting more families to turn to federal school nutrition programs that aid poor children, a survey suggests. For the first time since 2004, a majority of cafeteria operators say the number of children getting free or reduced-price lunches has risen. In the annual survey, out today from the School Nutrition Association, 51.4 percent of food service directors say they saw an increase in the past school year.

time.com — As the price of diesel — which most school buses run on — topped $4.70 per gal. last spring, school officials across the country watched their transportation costs skyrocket as much as 40 percent. Maryland's Montgomery County is debating whether to shrink its school-bus routes. In California, where state law doesn't require school districts to provide transportation, some districts are planning to cancel bus service altogether. But perhaps the most radical solution is one that was employed during the last big gas crunch, in the 1970s: the four-day school week.

csmonitor.com — About 50 percent of low-income students enroll in college right after high school, compared with 80 percent of high-income students, according to the National Center for Education Statistics. That's a gap of 30 percentage points, a gap that over the past 30 years has fluctuated between 22 and 49 points. For low-income students with high achievement levels, the college attendance rate is about the same rate as high-income students with much lower achievement scores. As competition intensifies in the global marketplace — and as the numbers of people in developing countries who complete college is quickly increasing — pressure is mounting in the U.S. to remove barriers to higher education and develop the pool of talent represented by low-income students.

usatoday.com — Half of Americans say U.S. schools are doing only a fair to poor job preparing kids for college and the work force. Even more feel that way about the skills kids need to survive as adults, according to a recent Associated Press poll. The views of the general population echo concerns from business and college leaders, who say they have to spend a lot of time and money on remedial education for people who completed high school but don't have the skills to succeed at work or in higher education. Education ranks behind the economy and gas prices as a top issue for Americans, the survey said. However, nearly all those polled said the quality of a country''s education system has a big impact on a country's overall economic prosperity.

msnbc.msn.com — The cost of staples that make up the backbone of school meal programs has soared in the past year, far outstripping federal subsidies. While inflation has driven up the price of milk by 12 percent, cheese by 15 percent and bread by 17 percent, the National School Lunch Program has increased what it pays local school districts to feed 30.1 million schoolchildren by only 3 percent. And pricier ingredients aren't the only culprit. Even at $8.2 billion a year, the federal subsidy hasn't kept up with rising food costs, with rising labor costs, and fuel costs.