The amount of money spent per public school student fell in 2011 for the first time since the Census Bureau began keeping records more than three decades earlier, as economic woes finally caught up with educational realities.“This is clearly the fallout from the Great Recession,” said Michael Petrilli, executive vice president of The Thomas B. Fordham Institute, a conservative education think tank...

An 87-year-old man jumped out of an airplane thousands of feet over Ohio on Saturday to help his sick 11-month-old great-grandson.Clarence Turner of Warren County took the tandem skydive with an instructor near Waynesville to help raise money for medical bills for Julian Couch, who has been in the hospital since he was born, NBC station WLWT of Cincinnati reported.The boy has a rare protein defici...

In two major speeches, President Obama sent strong signals this week about what he envisions for the military in a post-Sept. 11 era, a new path which can be described in a word: downsized.The president said the United States will have stricter limits on drone attacks overseas and telegraphed a new emphasis on fighting terrorism, based more on focusing on targeted, isolated threats and less on an ...

The wet weather plaguing many parts of the U.S. this holiday weekend has turned fatal in sodden San Antonio.Two people are dead and more than 100 were rescued Saturday after heavy rain pummeled the Texas city, causing flash flooding.The majority of rescues were people trapped in their vehicles in low-lying areas of the city, San Antonio Fire Department spokesman Christian Bove told NBC News.Bove s...

By Craig Stanley, NBC NewsSome mornings, beneath the streets of Boston, David France plays his violin for the passers-by who fill the subway corridor. Some stop to listen, while others acknowledge him by dropping money into the empty violin case that lies at his feet.France uses this money to fund Revolution of Hope, an after-school orchestra he started a few months ago in the disenfranchised comm...

Attorneys for George Zimmerman say that unreleased text messages drawn from Trayvon Martin’s cell phone show the 17-year-old was arguing with a friend and was “angry” on the day he was shot and killed in Sanford, Fla.“This is relevant to Mr. Martin’s overall demeanor that day and relevant to his emotional state,” a new court filing by the defense team reads. The filing goes on to say the messages ...

By Ron Mott, Correspondent, NBC NewsMOORE, Okla. – As it was for many of her classmates here, Saturday’s high school graduation was an emotional ceremony for 18-year-old Alyson Costilla, a moment of pride long anticipated.But unlike most of her peers, she accepted her diploma one day after a final farewell to her mom, Terri Long, one of 24 people killed in Monday’s devastating tornado.“She talked ...