By JANE ROBERTS, Scripps Howard News Service

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - Alexis Wilson, valedictorian at Booker T. Washington High School, faced the most daunting of tasks Monday -- a speech to her classmates on the same occasion that President Barack Obama, well-known for his moving oratory, delivers their commencement speech.

In schools and counseling offices, the possibility that Tennessee educators could be banned from discussing homosexuality with K-8 students is bearing down, experts say, like no other state anti-gay legislation has.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - If geometry makes more sense set to hip-hop, KIPP Diamond Academy's got it covered.

And history, and science and language arts. Need some help believing you're headed to college? There's an assist for that, too.

In Andover, Kan., just outside Wichita, families are forking over $100 per student this year for the privilege of riding the bus, the best solution a panel of community leaders could think of to cover holes in the school budget.

In Gainesville, Fla., no student within two miles of school is getting bus service for the second year in a row.

Monday is the busiest day of the year at FedEx Corp., which expects to send a record 10.4 million packages zooming to every ZIP code in America by the close of business.