MADISON, Wis. -- As the United States watched the standoff over union rights unfold in Wisconsin, Republican lawmakers in the state brought the matter to an abrupt close Thursday, preparing to strip virtually all collective bargaining rights from public workers. Opponents called the decision one of the most powerful blows to unions in years. Governor Scott Walker praised the Budget Repair Bill as a boon to both the state and its many businesses.

In order to pass the bill, Senate Republicans outmaneuvered their absent Democratic peers by invoking a rare procedural tactic that removed all spending measures from the collective bargaining legislation, and allowed them to proceed with the vote alone.

MADISON, Wis. -- As many schools in Wisconsin remained closed for the third straight day, and as protesters packed the Capitol hallways, Republican lawmakers continued to push legislation that would slash collective bargaining rights for public workers. Democrats, along with the thousands of workers, oppose the bill, which would limit collective bargaining for state employees and teachers to base wages, while also requiring them to pay more for pensions and health care.

With President Obama recently unveiling his platform to bolster academic success and strengthen America’s failing educational system, Wisconsin illustrates the political and economic challenges facing vital public services that the GOP seeks to cut. Despite the grim developments, however, schools in Georgia are poising themselves for massive overhauls, inspired by a local celebrity’s ignorance of geography.

SAN NARCISO, Calif. -- Pennsylvania school teacher Natalie Munroe was suspended last week for posting derisive and occasionally profane critiques of her students on a personal blog. Munroe has fired back at the school district, citing both a violation of her First Amendment rights and the district’s absence of an Internet policy to deter blogging of this nature. Munroe states that she neither used her full name on the site nor published the names of the school or its students. In the wake of the controversy, the San Narciso County School District has implemented a spartan “no tolerance” policy for similar blogs, and three teachers have already been suspended.