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President Obama's 2013 budget calls for a $5 billion competitive grant to get states to overhaul teacher evaluations and training programs. Also, the president recently gave 10 states waivers from some of the rules of the No Child Left Behind Act. Host Michel Martin speaks with NPR's Claudio Sanchez and Kentucky principal Tim Roy.

We're a nation in search of the perfect birth, martini, pizza, golf swing, job, dress and financial plan. How do we square the American quest for flawlessness with quirky caucuses and wacky candidate selection?

There'll still be plenty of disagreements. Compromise seems next to impossible on Democratic proposals to raise taxes on the wealthy, for instance. But the congressional Republican leaders are clearly becoming more selective on where they draw the line.

Toyota and Ford won the most awards in the J.D. Power and Associates 2012 U.S. Vehicle Dependability Study, which came out today. Vehicles made by Toyota led the way with eight awards, while Ford models received three. In general, vehicle dependability was the best since 1990, J.D. Power says.

Helen Simpson once said that when it comes to short stories, "Something's got to happen, but not too much." Her latest short story collection, In-Flight Entertainment, may seem bleak and mundane — with subjects like mortality, infidelity and climate change — but it's also bursting with British wit.

When immigrants face depression, therapy may not be the first option they explore for relief. When they do seek counseling, they often encounter a cross-cultural struggle to understand and be understood by American practitioners.

GOP presidential candidate Rick Santorum swept caucuses in Minnesota and Colorado and the Missouri primary, gaining considerable ground on Mitt Romney's primary lead. NPR's Ken Rudin and Dan Balz, of the Washington Post, recap the week in politics.

Basketball fans in China are rooting for Jeremy Lin, the New York Knicks' star point guard, as one of their own. But Lin, whose parents are originally from Taiwan, was born and bred in the U.S. — unlike the Chinese NBA star Yao Ming, with whom he is often compared.

Counterfeit versions of diet drugs, Lipitor and a flu medication called Tamiflu have been found in this country before. But so far fake cancer medicines have been rare.

Britain has a drinking problem. And it's not just a question of alcoholism, but how the country should grapple with what some call an ingrained tradition, and others call a $4.24 billion nightmare. That's how much the National Health Service says it pays each year in alcohol-related incidents.