Education

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Bryan Cranston plays Walter White, a high school chemistry teacher who transforms into a crystal meth kingpin on AMC’s “Breaking Bad.” The hit series, praised for its captivating characters and plotting, is one of many violent productions on television as the industry trends toward more morbid fare. (AMC)

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FILE - In this May 20, 2012 file photo provided by the Las Vegas News Bureau, singer Taylor Swift walks the red carpet for the 2012 Billboard Music Awards at the MGM Grand on the Las Vegas Strip. Swift is giving $10,000 and concert tickets to a Boston school for the deaf after a prank during an online contest promising an on-campus performance by the Grammy-winning singer. Horace Mann School for the Deaf was disqualified from the contest because many of the votes were from pranksters who thought it would be funny for a school for the deaf to win tickets to a live concert. Instead, Swift and contest sponsors will donate a combined $50,000 to the school, and VH1's Save the Music program will donate $10,000 in musical instruments. (AP Photo/Las Vegas News Bureau, Glenn Pinkerton, file)

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**FILE** Demonstrators protest Feb. 13, 2012, outside of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals after a panel heard oral arguments in San Francisco in a lawsuit seeking to overturn Proposition 209, which barred racial, ethnic or gender preferences in public education, employment and contracting. (Associated Press)

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Students walk through the University of Texas at Austin campus. The campus has one of the most-diverse student bodies in the country. Texas has maintained some use of affirmative action. It also has implemented a "top 10 percent" plan granting automatic admission to top high school students based on class rank and, as a result, its enrollment of minorities has risen overall since the late 1990s. (Associated Press)

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Gary Johnson, the Libertarian Party candidate for president, addresses an audience of students and the public at Macalester College, Friday, Sept. 21, 2012 in St. Paul, Minn. Johnson, a former two-term New Mexico governor, is on a nationwide college tour as part of his campaign for president. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)

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Rep. W. Todd Akin brought home federal dollars for projects in his district but is now an ally of an anti-earmark group, opening himself up to criticism that he has switched to get a campaign donation from the group for his Senate race. (The Jefferson City News-Tribune via Associated Press)

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James Meredith, the first black student to be admitted to the University of Mississippi, hasn’t shunned the university but he isn’t taking part in the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of his enrollment there. (Associated Press)

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In 2008, Sen. John McCain of Arizona, the Republican presidential nominee, takes the microphone from Gayle Quinnell who said she read about Sen. Barack Obama and “that he was an Arab,” at a town-hall meeting at Lakeville South High School in Lakeville, Minn. (Associated Press)

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President Obama speaks Sept. 30, 2012, during a campaign event at Desert Pines High School in Las Vegas. (Associated Press)

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Students leave New Fairfield High School where in New Fairfield, Conn., Friday, Sept. 28, 2012. Tyler Giuliano, a student involved in Civil Air Patrol at the school was killed by his father Jeffrey Giuliano during what appeared to be an attempted burglary early Thursday morning. Giuliano fatally shot a masked teenager in self-defense, then discovered that he had killed his son, state police said. (AP Photo/Jessica Hill)