State Finances.

Though the U.S. economy is recovering, states are still struggling to balance their budgets, according to a Harvard University white paper. "The financial trends are clear," the 33-page paper says. "The existing, built-in financial demands of the states' current responsibilities are growing more rapidly than are their revenues." Education is one of those growing costs, especially expenses related to requirements under the federal special education law and the No Child Left Behind Act, the report says.