Education

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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)

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Financially ill-prepared college students "take on mountains of student debt without any hope of paying it off," says Jordan Goodman. Shown: scene from a 2011 protest in Washington, D.C.. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

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"Won’t Back Down,” which opens Friday and stars Viola Davis (left) and Maggie Gyllenhaal, is seen by some as an attack on teachers unions and has been embraced by proponents of school choice. (20th Century Fox)

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Ann Caine, superintendent of Stillwater schools, answers a question during a news conference in Stillwater, Okla., on Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2012, after a 13-year-old student shot and killed himself in a hallway at an city junior high school before classes began Wednesday. Looking on is Stillwater police Capt. Randy Dickerson. (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

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Pakistani students chant anti-U.S. slogans at a rally to protest against the making of a blasphemous film by a U.S. filmmaker at Karachi university on Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2012, in Pakistan. A Pakistani Taliban spokesman says the militant group has announced an amnesty for a minister who offered a $100,000 bounty for anyone who kills the maker of an anti-Islam film. (AP Photo/Fareed Khan)

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In this Sept. 11, 2012, photo, Hailey Fink gets acquainted with a corn snake in the first grade classroom of Dawn Slinger in Farmington, Minn. Experts say many children who have mastered video games before entering first grade have never even had a starter pet. Maryland-based Pets in the Classroom project is offering grants to help teachers pay for pets, cages, tanks and supplies of food. It issued its 10,000th grant this summer. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)