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ATLANTA — More than 13 million students and 1 million educators will share $3.4 billion from the second round of the federal “Race to the Top” grant competition, the U.S. Education Department said Tuesday.

The department chose nine states — Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Maryland, New York, North Carolina, Ohio and Rhode Island — and the District of Columbia for the grants. Education Secretary Arne Duncan said 25,000 schools will get money to raise student learning and close the achievement gap.

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Washington (CNN) — Just five days before the fifth anniversary of Hurricane Katrina’s devastating assault on the Gulf coast, millions of dollars are heading to public and private projects for Louisianans still trying to recover, two top Obama administration officials said at a news conference Tuesday.

Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano and Federal Emergency Management Agency Administrator Craig Fugate detailed how, courtesy of the federal disaster recovery fund established under the Stafford Act, seven projects in Louisiana will receive more than $26.8 million to contribute to the rebuilding process.

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WASHINGTON — Congress is moving rapidly just weeks before the start of the school year to speed billions of dollars in emergency education aid to states in hopes of reversing the layoffs of tens of thousands of teachers.

Some $10 billion in aid to school districts is set to flow after a 61-39 Senate vote Thursday — to be followed quickly by a House vote next week — in hopes that it will come in time for many school districts to reconsider teacher layoffs.

Thursday’s vote was a hard-earned but partial victory for Democrats and President Barack Obama. Advocates said it could save the jobs of up to 300,000 teachers, police and other public workers.

Full Story at CNN.com

Los Angeles, California (CNN) — Fresh off the plane from Pakistan, Gary Faulkner speaks passionately about his mission to capture Osama bin Laden.

“There’s a lot of people who talk,” Faulkner told CNN. “I got off my butt, and I put my life on the line.”

This wasn’t some fly-by-night trip, according to the 50-year-old construction worker. He says it was his seventh trip to Pakistan, searching for the al Qaeda leader whose terrorist network was responsible for the September 11, 2001, terror attacks on the United States.

How close did he get to bin Laden?

“If I had a rifle, I could shoot him,” Faulkner claimed.

Full Story at CNN.com

Washington (CNN) — As the oil slick from the recent offshore oil rig disaster makes its way to Gulf Coast shores — expected to devastate the precious ecosystem and hurt struggling businesses — the seeds of political fallout for the Obama administration are beginning to sprout.

Conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh said on his program that the oil slick disaster is “Obama’s Katrina.”

Not so, says Media Matters for America:

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. – For a couple tight weeks after taking in her sixth-grade stepson, Lisa Lewis fretted about how to pay for his school lunches.

Unable to find a full-time job, the 37-year-old works part-time at a Kansas City, Kan., daycare, earning minimum wage. On that money alone, she supports herself, her unemployed husband, her stepson and her 11th-grade son.

“I sometimes cry myself to sleep wondering how I am going to keep my family fed and things like that,” Lewis said. “I’m making it but barely.”

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WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama on Saturday enlisted the help of his two predecessors, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, to lead a national drive to raise money for earthquake-ravaged Haiti.

“By coming together in this way, these two leaders send an unmistakable message to the people of Haiti and to the people of the world,” Obama said in the Rose Garden, standing between Bush and Clinton. “In these difficult hours, America stands united.