Restraint and seclusion are controversial practices in public schools. They are most often used on students with disabilities, and parents say they take an emotional toll.

There are huge gaps in school funding between affluent and property-poor districts. And, with evidence that money matters, especially for disadvantaged kids, something has to change.

Oregon City, just south of Portland, Ore., has rejected more than $2.5 million in federal funds. The school district turned down money that would have given performance-based pay bonuses to teachers, a controversial part of the Obama administration's education policy.

The Oregon Department of Education 锘縲ill allow students to use spell check during standardized writing exams for the first time. But only one-quarter of the state's students will have access to the online writing assessment. Critics worry that using spell check gives some students a crutch.

Several areas of the United States are at risk from a tsunami, but a new government report finds that the states most at risk are unprepared for a disaster of the magnitude of the Indian Ocean tsunami that killed hundreds of thousands. Rob Manning of Oregon Public Broadcasting reports.