teacher

As the Chicago School Board gets set to vote on a plan to restructure failing schools, opponents staged a candlelight vigil Monday.

The White House could use a little help from Aretha Franklin to boost its new education initiative. The $5 billion plan aims to elevate the status of America’s teachers, and is dubbed RESPECT — although inspiring that particular sentiment may be wishful thinking.

The U.S. Department of Education recently rolled out its proposal for the RESPECT Project(Recognizing Educational Success, Professional Excellence and Collaborative Teaching).

As suburban school officials remain skittish about the idea of paying more toward teachers’ retirements, Illinois Senate President John Cullerton said a proposal he’s considering would spare local districts the cost of covering the immense pension debt the state has racked up.

The reopening of an investigation into teacher misconduct at a high school in Hollywood and the initiation of another in Pacoima – both in the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD) – is leading to concerns that the lewd behavior uncovered at Miramonte Elementary School might be more widespread than thought.

“Don’t tell nobody about this.”

A two-day closure went into effect at Miramonte Elementary School on Tuesday to enable the Los Angeles Unified School District to replace the entire staff following the arrests of two teachers on allegations of lewd acts and sexual crimes against students.

For the first time in three years, New York City teachers are not being threatened with layoffs, “unless something dramatic happens,” Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said, announcing his preliminary budget.

The cash-strapped Chicago Public Schools system spends tens of millions of dollars annually on a perk that few other employers offer: cash to departing employees for unused time off.