A teacher need not prove he is competent to keep his job, but a school board must prove he is incompetent in order to get rid of him. (Author)

A Missouri school system has cut benefit costs by establishing a self-funded health insurance plan for employees. Reviews areas to consider and ways to set up such a plan. (MD)

Describes a special incentive program for teachers provided by merchants in Durham, North Carolina. Teachers are given a "Teacher Express Card" that can be used for discounts at local stores. (MD)

A federal district court judge in Iowa ruled that an education service agency unreasonably denied equal employment opportunity to a handicapped applicant for a teaching position. The agency based its decision on the candidate's inability to meet physical requirements for job functions that the court held nonessential. (PGD)

Cautions administrators to improve their substitute teacher programs, because more substitutes are going to be needed as teachers receive more time off from school for participation in professional meetings and other activities. (Author)

A look at the condition of teachers in the early days of the "Journal." (IRT)

Discusses possible implications of H.R. 9730, a bill before Congress that would provide federally guaranteed collective bargaining rights for all state and local public employees, including teachers and other school employees. (JG)

This fringe benefit plan saves money for both employers and employees, provides a better fit for employees' actual benefit needs, and allows employees to choose options from a menu of benefits. One option is a flexible spending plan. Employees place a portion of their before-tax income into a special account from which allowable expenses are paid…

Discusses employers' duty to accommodate employees' requests for religious leave, based on the case of "Ansonia Board of Education v. Philbrook." A school board denied a high school teacher's request for three days of paid, personal business leave to supplement his paid religious leave. The final court decision turned on "reasonable…

Proposes the use of teacher sabbaticals to improve the quality of teachers. Includes a list of recommendations for implementing a sabbatical policy. (MD)

Attitudes about teacher sabbaticals are sharply divided and, as funding grows scarcer, get more controversial. Teachers should plan sabbaticals that will improve their teaching, and school boards should be assured of good, long-term returns on their investments of sabbaticals. (MLF)

A New York City school superintendent is accused of pushing white educators out of the schools by harassment and intimidation and then filling their jobs on the grounds of ethnic group. (Author/WM)

Granting unpaid leaves of absence to teachers who are at or near the top of the school district's teacher pay scale will save the district money. Such leaves benefit teachers by satisfying whatever needs inspired their requests, and offer students a new enthusiastic teacher in the classroom. (Author/MLF)