Teachers don't go into their profession expecting to get rich. However, they do want to be paid "fairly"—by their definition. A primary measure of that "fairness" is how your school's salaries stack up against the public and private schools in your area. Do you know? Do you collect this information annually?

The Latino students in your school have stories to tell. A new initiative from StoryCorps, the nonprofit oral history project, provides an opportunity for them to share their own and their families' experiences as a means of preserving and celebrating the diversity of their culture.

Tony Danza, the TV actor who played a none-too-bright cab driver on "Taxi" and a baseball-player-turned-housekeeper on "Who's the Boss?" is teaching 10th grade English this fall in a Philadelphia inner-city school.

Safety continues to be the No. 1 concern as parents evaluate private-independent schools. Yes, they're looking for quality academics and excellent character development programs, but, above all, they want a school that offers both psychological and physical safety for their children.

Of the 50 states in the U.S., 84% fail to provide students with access to a moderately proficient public education system. Only eight states provide both a moderate-proficiency and high-access education for all students. Compared to their white, non-Latino peers, minority and low-income students have only half the opportunity to learn in public schools.

A recent "USA Today Snapshots ®" reported on the types of recognition people in the workplace prefer, based on a survey of 388 administrative professionals conducted by the online community OfficeArrow™

According to a recent analysis conducted by The Washington Post, students in Washington DC's poorest neighborhoods are "nearly twice as likely to have a new or second-year teacher as those in the wealthiest." The result? Some of the city's neediest students are being taught at schools that "double as teacher training grounds."

H1N1 influenza (or swine flu) is a hot topic right now, and it has a lot of school administrators and staff concerned about the ramifications if it were to begin popping up in their schools or towns. Since ISM is your teammate through both the good times and the bad, we wanted to keep you informed of what exactly swine flu is, and what you can do to protect yourself and your school.

On March 31, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced that the outdoor air of 62 schools in 22 states will now be tested for toxic air contaminants.

Basic LTD Benefits Maximum monthly benefits should be negotiable. A maximum monthly benefit of $5,000 provides full-policy coverage (at 60% of salary) for any employee making $100,000 or less. To provide benefit coverage for administrators on earnings of more than $100,000 per year, consider raising the maximum monthly benefit to $6,000, $7,500, or even $10,000. Many policies have guaranteed minimum benefits as well. Look for a minimum benefit that is the greater of a specific dollar figure ($50 or $100 is common) or a specified percentage of the normal gross monthly benefit. This will give higher-salaried employees a significantly greater minimum monthly benefit.