Teachers

AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) - A Maine state lawmaker has proposed a bill that would allow teachers and other school employees to carry concealed firearms at school. Republican state Sen. David Burns says he has been thinking of similar legislation for about a year but made his proposal in response to the death of 20 students and six educators at a Newtown, Conn., elementary school last month. Burns' bill would require school employees carrying concealed guns to take a firearms training course and undergo a psychological exam.

National Educators Association-South Bend teachers ratified a new two-year contract late Thursday afternoon. Teachers ratified the contract, 93 percent yes to 7 percent no. The contract, though a two-year contract, is retroactive, meaning it ends in August 2011. That also means in essence, negotiators will be back at the bargaining table in a little more than a year. South Bend Community School Board members now must take a ratification vote. That vote may come at the board’s April 26 meeting, it’s next regularly scheduled meeting.

ALBION, Ind. (AP) - Teachers in a northeastern Indiana county may soon be carrying guns in school if officials accept a proposal from the county sheriff. Under Noble County Sheriff Doug Harp's plan, officials would choose up to four teachers in each school to undergo firearms training and be appointed as special deputies. The teachers' authority would be limited to school buildings. The Central Noble (County) School Board voted Tuesday night to consider the idea. Harp has delivered the same proposal to the East and West Noble School districts northwest of Fort Wayne.

It's going to get a little chilly Thursday night, especially for Jodi Kayser and Lacy Buck. The LaVille teachers are spending the evening on the roof of the school for “Pennies for Patients.” The students made their goal of raising $1,600, so the teachers are paying up in their own way. Thursday afternoon the teachers climbed up on the roof and will stay there until Friday. The money raised benefits the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

Every single teacher and staff member at Benton Harbor High School got a pink slip in the mail today. The Superintendent announced the entire high school staff of about 90 people are being laid off as part of a "turnaround plan" to avoid state takeover. The school is one of the lowest performing schools in the state, falling into the 5th percentile when it comes to graduation rates and academic performance. Under the plan, which was approved by the state, the administration can re-hire half of their current staff, but must replace the other half with new teachers and faculty.

ST. JOSEPH, Mich. — Schools everywhere are looking for ways to cut costs, and often that means laying off teachers. But St. Joseph schools in Michigan hope they won't have to send out any pink slips. They are paying teachers to encourage them to retire. Superintendent Allen Skibbe might have to make some tough decisions by April 15. "On April 15 we issue layoff notices to teachers that we won't be bringing back due to budget cuts," said Skibbe. But the district hopes a new plan will help them avoid sending out any pink slips.

SOUTH BEND — As state takeover at three South Bend schools is a possibility, two Riley High School students took matters into their own hands, literally. They used 1,000 Styrofoam cups to spell four simple words: “WE SUPPORT OUR TEACHERS” It was a message for South Bend to see. "We care about the teachers in our school," said Carolyn Shank, a Riley High School student. Shank and student Katie Snedaker got right to work. "Our hands were out and really cold," said Sneadaker, "but we got them all up. " With the help of some of their classmates, it was easy to see how everyone left their mark.

MISHAWAKA — School City of Mishawaka will have to cut at least 25 teachers in order to balance the budget over the next two years. Superintendent R. Steven Mills told people at a community forum at John Young Middle School Tuesday night that even more teachers may have to be cut unless other savings are found. Only four citizens offered suggestions for ways to save that money Tuesday. Sanjya Gillespie suggested charging another dollar for field trips, charging a small fee for students to participate in athletics and cutting down on the number of papers sent home with students.

ST. JOSEPH, Mich. - The tragedy in Newtown is leaving some parents questioning the safety in schools. School officials in Berrien County spent the weekend reviewing security plans a nd preparing for the "psychological toll" the Newtown shooting may have on students and teachers. Schools in Berrien County, Mich. and St. Joseph County, Ind. have counselors available to students but say they aren't fielding too many questions, especially among younger kids. But WSBT did talk to some older students who say the tragedy is very much on their minds.

APEX, N.C. — A middle-school teacher in Wake County, N.C., may be fired after she and her friends made caustic remarks on a Facebook page about her students, the South and Christianity. Melissa Hussain, an eighth-grade science teacher at West Lake Middle School in Apex, was suspended with pay Friday while investigators review her case, according to Greg Thomas, a Wake schools spokesman. The suspension came after some of Hussain's students and their parents objected to comments on her Facebook page, many of them revolving around her interaction with her Christian students.

There's strong opposition from educators after the Michigan House Education Committee approved a bill Thursday morning that would require student performance to be a primary factor in determining teacher salaries. According to online news site M-Live.com, only teachers hired after the possible adoption of the bill would be affected. Under current law, student performance is only one of several factors used in determining salaries - along with a teacher's education and experience.

It's going to get a little chilly Thursday night, especially for Jodi Kayser and Lacy Buck. The LaVille teachers are spending the evening on the roof of the school for “Pennies for Patients.” The students made their goal of raising $1,600, so the teachers are paying up in their own way. Thursday afternoon the teachers climbed up on the roof and will stay there until Friday. The money raised benefits the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

Every single teacher and staff member at Benton Harbor High School got a pink slip in the mail today. The Superintendent announced the entire high school staff of about 90 people are being laid off as part of a "turnaround plan" to avoid state takeover. The school is one of the lowest performing schools in the state, falling into the 5th percentile when it comes to graduation rates and academic performance. Under the plan, which was approved by the state, the administration can re-hire half of their current staff, but must replace the other half with new teachers and faculty.

SOUTH BEND - Celebrating excellence in teaching, the South Bend Community schools have given Sue Panzica the Teacher of the Year Award. She teaches kindergarten at Swanson Primary Center. Panzica has been teaching for 37 years. “Thank you very much,” replied a much-appreciative Panzica. “It really is an honor to be chosen and to represent South Bend Community Schools. It's a wonderful school corporation. We have wonderful families here.” For her efforts, Panzica will get a $1,000 professional growth grant, a plaque and a golden apple.

PLYMOUTH - Some parts of northern Indiana picked up nearly a foot of snow Tuesday night into Wednesday morning. North Webster recorded the highest amount in our area at 11.9 inches. Plymouth had 11.3 inches and Goshen and South Bend had nearly 8 inches of snow. It made for dangerous driving conditions, forcing many area schools to run on a two-hour delay or cancel classes altogether. A big snow like that, especially in March, isn't something people who live in and around Marshall, Kosciusko, Starke, Pulaski and Fulton counties are used to seeing, but kids who got a day out of the classroom and on the sledding hill in Plymouth's Centennial Park didn't complain a bit.  Neither did their teachers who made it out into the elements.

LAKE STATION, Ind. (AP) - An Indiana teacher who wrote a threatening message on a chalkboard after having what students called a "meltdown" during class is the subject of investigations by police and school officials. WLS in Chicago reports ( http://bit.ly/162XEDs ) Lake Station police met Monday with students and officials at Edison Junior-Senior High School to discuss the message scrawled by the teacher last week. The message was in a multiple choice format, like on a test.

BOONVILLE, Ind. (AP) - A former southern Indiana teacher facing voyeurism charges allegedly had secretly recorded video footage of 16 female students stored on his computer. Thirty-one-year-old Andrew Emmons of Boonville was arrested Friday on 16 counts of child exploitation and 10 counts of voyeurism. He's being held at the Warrick County Jail on a $14,400 bond. The Evansville Courier & Press reports ( http://bit.ly/TBpsuE ) the former Boonville Middle School teacher was arrested in September after a female teacher found a recording device in a school staff bathroom.

AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) - A Maine state lawmaker has proposed a bill that would allow teachers and other school employees to carry concealed firearms at school. Republican state Sen. David Burns says he has been thinking of similar legislation for about a year but made his proposal in response to the death of 20 students and six educators at a Newtown, Conn., elementary school last month. Burns' bill would require school employees carrying concealed guns to take a firearms training course and undergo a psychological exam.

AKRON, Ohio (AP) - A northeast Ohio middle-school teacher has until later this week to respond to an allegation that she posted a Facebook photo of her students with their mouths covered with duct tape. The Akron Public Schools Board of Education voted last week to pursue the firing of Melissa Cairns. She's a math teacher at Buchtel Community Learning Center. The school district says the photo, posted on Cairn's personal Facebook page, showed some of her students with duct tape across their mouths.

ALBION, Ind. (AP) - Teachers in a northeastern Indiana county may soon be carrying guns in school if officials accept a proposal from the county sheriff. Under Noble County Sheriff Doug Harp's plan, officials would choose up to four teachers in each school to undergo firearms training and be appointed as special deputies. The teachers' authority would be limited to school buildings. The Central Noble (County) School Board voted Tuesday night to consider the idea. Harp has delivered the same proposal to the East and West Noble School districts northwest of Fort Wayne.