Educators

ALBUQUERQUE — A former University of New Mexico president and four other people have been arrested in connection with a prostitution website operated by a New Jersey professor, police said yesterday. Albuquerque police officials said that Flaviano Garcia, the former university president, was being held on charges of promoting prostitution, tampering with evidence, and conspiracy. Lieutenant William Roseman said Garcia was part of a group called the hunt club, which recruited members to join the website allegedly operated by David Flory, 68, a professor at Fairleigh Dickinson University.

PHILADELPHIA - Mitt Romney struggled to find support for his education proposals while campaigning at an urban school Thursday, one day after declaring education the "civil rights issue of our era. " The visit, the first by the likely Republican presidential nominee to such a school, came as he begins to court a broader cross-section of the electorate he needs to defeat President Obama in November. In a speech Wednesday, Romney proposed expanding charter schools, which are privately run but funded by taxpayers, and creating a voucher system in which poor and disabled students could...

More than 60 educators were disciplined or dismissed during a five-year period in Massachusetts for ethical or criminal offenses, including more than a third who were accused of sexual misconduct ranging from sexual harassment to child rape, according to a review of records by the Associated Press. Many of the sexual misconduct cases made headlines, such as the teacher who sent naked photos to a student. But other cases were prosecuted with little fanfare, or schools chose not to disclose information about the cases.

WASHINGTON - Mitt Romney proposed a significant restructuring of the American education system on Wednesday, one that would revamp funding formulas, encourage more charter schools, and revive the debate over how poor and disabled students choose the schools they attend. Saying the country is "in the midst of a national education emergency," Romney lamented that the current education system does not live up to the country's standards. "Here we are in the most prosperous nation on earth, but millions of our kids are getting a Third World education," Romney said.

ATLANTA - A state commission decided yesterday to revoke the teaching licenses of eight teachers and three school administrators in Atlanta's public school system, imposing the first sanctions in one of the nation's largest school cheating scandals. The Georgia Professional Standards Commission voted on the first batch of cases from a state investigation released in July that revealed widespread cheating in nearly half of the district's 100 schools, dating as far back as 2001. The commission is expected to take up the rest of the nearly 180 cases by the end of the year.

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. - An elementary school teacher is accused of shooting and wounding the principal and assistant principal at his school yesterday about an hour after children were dismissed because of snow. Police charged Mark Stephen Foster, 48, of Clinton, with two counts of attempted first-degree murder after the shooting at Inskip Elementary School. The school website identifies Foster as a fourth-grade teacher. University of Tennessee Medical Center officials said principal Elisa Luna was in critical condition and assistant principal Amy Brace was in stable...

U.S. Rep. Jim Langevin (LAN'-jih-vin) has announced a contest to honor Rhode Island's top career and technical educators. Langevin says the state chapter of SkillsUSA is accepting nominations through Dec. 1 for awards honoring teachers, school administrators, advisors and businesspeople who are advancing career and technical education among high-school students. SkillsUSA is a national nonprofit that aims to improve training of high school and college students for technical, skilled and service occupations.

Dozens of education leaders from Connecticut secondary schools, colleges and universities are gathering to discuss ways to ensure students are well-prepared for higher education and careers after high school. Organizers of this week's workshops say they want to help educators determine what can be improved to ensure those students are ready to enter college, or for careers in which they can grow and make a living. Many Connecticut students need remedial courses in English and math once they start college.

A news report says correspondence between Waterbury school administrators shows they were strongly suspicious of an unexplained jump in Hopeville Elementary School's annual student test scores even before a formal investigation was launched. The Republican-American of Waterbury reports ( http://bit.ly/qQFiLn) that the district's superintendent, chief operating officer and a testing supervisor exchanged several emails about their concerns when they received the Connecticut Mastery Test results this summer.

YVONNE ABRAHAM raises a salient point that teachers are not "clock-punching assembly-line workers" ("Old-school thinking," Metro, Dec. 8). However, her realization that "there are many great teachers" is overshadowed by her bashing of Boston Teachers Union president Richard Stutman as being unaware of the needs of teachers and students. What Abraham fails to realize is that, like any other union employee, teachers are entitled to compensation for all of the hours they work. For the city to shortchange those educating our youth, as it has tried to shortchange so many other unions, is...

WASHINGTON -- Mitt Romney on Tuesday announced an extensive list of education policy advisers, further adding to the growing roster of voices helping the presumptive Republican presidential nominee flesh out his policies on major national issues. The policy group includes several top officials from the administration of President George W. Bush, including former education secretary Rod Paige. It also includes several who advised Romney while he was Massachusetts governor, including Robert Costrell and Jim Peyser.

Teachers at all levels of Spain's education system are on strike to protest billions in spending cuts enacted as part of an austerity drive. Students are also taking part in the Tuesday strike, unprecedented in that all levels — from elementary school to universities — are taking part simultaneously. Union officials said it was too early to give figures on how many teachers are staying away from work. All but three of Spain's 17 regions are participating. Spain is struggling to cut its deficit amid fears that its public finances and troubled banking sector will...

For many years, Massachusetts has enjoyed the unofficial title as the Education State. It is the mecca of American higher education with over 50 universities and colleges in the Boston area alone. Bay State K-12 students rank first in national reading and mathematics test scores. High school graduation rates may not be best in the country but with four in five freshmen receiving diplomas within four years, it is toward the head of the class and well above the national average.

By State Senator Katherine Clark Last week I cohosted a legislative briefing on the importance of early childhood education with Arthur Rolnick of the University of Minnesota's Human Capital Research Collaborative, a former economist at the Federal Reserve.  Professor Rolnick's research makes the economic case for early childhood education through new data and a comprehensive 40-year study.  Professor Rolnick and his colleagues have quantified...

WHO Jamie Oliver WHAT For the last decade, the British-born "Naked Chef" has been advocating for better food education, particularly for schoolchildren. On his ABC show, "Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution," the chef entered schools in Huntington, W. Va., and Los Angeles to enact dietary change. He will take his crusade a step farther on May 19 by launching Food Revolution Day. WHEN On May 22, Oliver will receive the Healthy Cup Award from the Harvard School of Public Health.

Cristobal Steffens and his sister Natalie were the first in their family to go to college, and both emerged with good jobs. But they also joined the 500,000 Chileans who have had to take on sometimes-crushing debts. Their father put up the family home as collateral for student loans whose interest rates soared beyond what he could pay. Now the bank is threatening to evict them. "My folks wanted to give us the best, they wanted us to become professionals and we had no other option.

A Sharon High School French teacher was named Tuesday as the Massachusetts 2013 Teacher of the Year, the state's highest honor for educators. Kathleen M. Turner, of Walpole, the 51st teacher to receive the honor, is now Massachusetts' candidate for the National Teacher of the Year Program, the state Department of Elementary and Secondary Education said Tuesday. The award was announced on National Teacher Day. "I am honored to have been chosen from so many qualified candidates," Turner said Tuesday.

Middlesex District Attorney Gerry Leone will host a conference for educators focusing on ways to empower young women. The event scheduled for Monday will explore how educators can act as role models and foster self-confidence. Guest speakers will share their personal stories of women who empowered them. The speakers will include U.S. Attorney Carmen Ortiz and Deborah Re, chief executive of Big Sister Association of Greater Boston. School personnel expected to attend include psychologists, social workers, guidance counselors, nurses, school resource officers, teachers and...