News in Brief

Gov. George S. Mickelson of South Dakota has vetoed a bill altering the state's year-old "report cards" of public-school performance.

Mr. Mickelson wrote in his Feb. 14 veto message to the legislature that he was rejecting the measure because it would have required that report cards be issued on a district basis, with school reports averaged so that there was one each for elementary, middle, and high schools.

"This type of averaging would only mask the data applicable to each building and, thereby, minimize the value of the...