Herald Reports: Can Districts Work Together for Lower Salaries?

http://www.antonnews.com/syossetjerichotribune/news/13513-can-school-districts-work-together-for-lower-salaries.html
Also found in Plainview Herald

Can School Districts Work Together for Lower Salaries?

Friday, 11 February 2011 00:00
North Shore Leads Meeting of Boards on
Legal Cooperation

This unforgiving economic climate has dealt hard blows to many people working in the private sector. Those lucky enough to hold on to jobs do so knowing that, in this era, it is unlikely to expect ideal financial compensation. Many employees are paying larger benefit contributions; some, like the Syosset Council of Teachers voted to do on Jan. 20, are forgoing raises. As the pain persists and time goes on, eyes are turning to the public sector, where many say their own, harder-to-earn tax dollars are funding a better situation than what they themselves are experiencing.

Nassau County has been working to negotiate a new deal with its primary union, seeking to remove what many found to be excessive items of compensation. Across local municipalities and at the state level, the microscope has gone down on the books and taxpayers are looking for change.

School districts account for the bulk of property taxes. In this arena, residents seek relief from a tax levy increase while boards of education face the challenge of providing an environment that 1) educates children properly and 2) keeps the value of property somewhere near the high values that brought residents into their communities in the first place. ......click link

"Plainview Patch" Reports Schools Ace State Report

http://plainview.patch.com/articles/plainview-schools-ace-state-report-cards


Plainview Schools Ace State Report Cards
Local schools outperform state average in a big way.
By Joe Dowd

The Plainview-Old Bethpage schools got stellar marks in virtually all categories of academic proficiency, blowing away statewide averages, according to reports issued today by the state Education Department.

The state report contains information that has been released to public throughout the past year but the state bills its Report Card as a single place to find all the information. It is available on the web at http://www.p12.nysed.gov/irs/reportcard/.

School officials could not be immediately reached for comment.......

Teacher in PA Suspended for Blog

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110216/ap_on_hi_te/us_teacher_suspended_blog
Pa. teacher strikes nerve with 'lazy whiners' blog
AP


Natalie Munroe AP – Central Bucks East High School teacher Natalie Munroe is seen during an interview with the Associated …
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By PATRICK WALTERS, Associated Press Patrick Walters, Associated Press –

FEASTERVILLE, Pa. – A high school English teacher in suburban Philadelphia who was suspended for a profanity-laced blog in which she called her young charges "disengaged, lazy whiners" is driving a sensation by daring to ask: Why are today's students unmotivated — and what's wrong with calling them out?

As she fights to keep her job at Central Bucks East High School, 30-year-old Natalie Munroe says she had no interest in becoming any sort of educational icon. The blog has been taken down, but its contents can still be found easily online.......more click link