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Jennifer Cohen, senior policy analyst with the ed policy program at the New America Foundation and Phillisa Cramer, reporter with Gotham Schools, discuss how teacher salaries vary and what that means for their assets in retirement.  

The recent outcry over the arrests of several New York City teachers accused of sexual misconduct has left many parents wondering how teachers are disciplined and whether too many were allowed to keep their jobs even after complaints are lodged.

New Jersey officials broke ground on a new, mixed-use development project known as Teachers Village on Thursday. The five block project to be constructed on Halsey Street will eventually include school buildings, a daycare center, retail space and housing for teachers.

New York and New Jersey were able to avoid big cuts to instruction in their public schools thanks to the U.S. government's stimulus spending, according to a new report by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. 

To hear its principal, Steven Cobb, tell the story, Aspire Preparatory Middle School experienced the perfect storm in the fall of 2010. The state made its annual math and reading tests harder to pass that year and, like most schools, Aspire did poorly. Then, just as the school was adjusting to meet the tougher standards, the staff was hammered, Mr. Cobb said. Eight of his 34 teachers were out sick for extended periods during the last school year. 

Deroy Peraza, principal and creative director at Hyperakt, and Kurt Andersen, host of Studio 360, talk about working together to rebrand teachers.

Six teachers from a range of schools share tips for inspiring a new generation of students and the challenges they face. The teachers are: Romero Ross (first grade teacher at Achievement First charter school in East New York, Brooklyn) Keith Christiansen (literacy teacher at M.S. 88 in Brooklyn) Luciano D’Orazio (social studies coordinator at P.S. 150 South Bronx) Katy Ulrich (first grade teacher Achievement First charter in Bushwick, Brooklyn) and Karen Zaidberg (sixth grade at Manhattan Country Day School) Duane Williamson (ninth grade English at Pathways in Technology Early College High School in Crown Heights, Brooklyn).

Listen to their conversation about their favorite Martin Luther King Jr. and Black History month-related lessons here:

To celebrate StoryCorps' National Day of Listening, founder Dave Isay is gathering stories about great teachers. Isay is the editor of Mom: A Celebration of Mothers from StoryCorps.

Extortion has tripled in Mexico since 2004, and the latest victims are teachers in Acapulco, one of the country's biggest tourist spots. Gang members are plaguing teachers there with threats demanding they give over half their pay by October 1. Hundreds of schools have closed because of the threats, but thousands of teachers are not sitting quietly, and instead are taking to the streets in protest.

Hear Mayor Bloomberg answer reporters' questions after making a speech at NBC's Education Nation summit. 

New York City school teachers are to report to work on Tuesday, but there are still nearly 2,000 who are looking for new assignments while continuing to receive their paychecks. Many of these teachers were let go, or "excessed," by their principals because of budget cuts. Others worked in schools that were closed for poor performance.

City students who get suspended for infractions this coming year will now have a new alternative school — in the headquarters of the teacher's union.

Just in time for the tenth anniversary, the city's public schools will now have a new curriculum for teaching about the 9/11 attacks.

P.S. 124 Yung Wing School was scheduled to lose three teachers this year, if cuts threatened by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg went through. Because of seniority protections, teachers with the least experience would have been the first to go, and Mr. Lee was only in his third year. But there he was this summer, studying his new classroom, imagining the children that will soon fill rows and pass through corridors.

All over the country, 50 million public school students will head back to school this week.  And so today, we’re starting a week-long special look into the state of education in America in 2011. Today, we're talking about shrinking school budgets. State budgets have been feeling the squeeze since 2008, and with stimulus money running out, this is the year when schools are really having to tighten their belts. Later this week, we'll talk about the No Child Left Behind Act's looming deadlines, which require that by 2014, 100 percent of students will test at grade level in reading and math.

More than 1,900 city teachers let go by their principals because of budget cuts are still looking for new jobs this fall — and continue to receive salaries while they're assigned to work as subs and look for permanent positions within the school system.

Yesterday, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced a major override of the No Child Left Behind accountability law for schools. Duncan's proposal will mean that states can apply to bypass performance requirements in the law. One of those requirements is that 100 percent students be proficient in reading and math by 2014. Arne Duncan talks about about the overhaul in the law and how it will affect students and schools. (Transcript available after the jump.)

Test scores statewide in math and English for elementary and middle school students remained flat while scores in the city increased a few percent points.