Education

News Briefs

October 01, 2001 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

Pump It Up
Academic drills have been around for decades, but the Penn Hills School District near Pittsburgh is putting a new spin on the term: It’s allowing a natural gas company to sink as many as 10 wells on its properties. The move is designed to lower the district’s eyebrow-raising energy bills. It cost $450,000 to heat eight schools last year. In return, Penn Hills will earn royalties plus free gas, the Associated Press reports.


Name Game
Maryland’s largest school district is heeding the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights’ recent call for non-Indian schools to remove icons deemed disrespectful toward Native Americans. The decision most affects Montgomery County’s Poolesville High, which will have a year to find a new name for its sports teams, the Indians, and replace stationary, uniforms, and more, according to the Baltimore Sun. (“Schools Prohibit Indian Themes,” the Baltimore Sun, Aug, 29, 2001.)


Health Study
With flu season imminent, researchers at the University of Connecticut have given educators another reason to button up their coats: evidence that teachers are more likely than others to develop autoimmune disorders. The study, published in the Journal of Rheumatology (abstract: “Excess Autoimmune Disease Mortality Among School Teachers”), states that the mortality rate for diseases such as lupus is 2.3 percent for teachers, 1.7 percent for other professionals.

Why?

Teachers are exposed to the kinds of infectious agents that many say trigger the disorders.


Sweet Success?
California pop-a-holics are tasting victory. Legislation that would have banned the sale of soda and junk food in schools has buckled under heavy lobbying from officials who claim schools depend on vending-machine income, the San Jose Mercury News reports. The state senate decided to prohibit the sale of snacks and soda at elementary schools only—where students typically don’t buy them. Says Martha Escutia, the official who introduced the bill, “It’s obvious to me the schools have . . . put profit at the expense of the health of our kids.”

Events

This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Assessment Webinar
Reflections on Evidence-Based Grading Practices: What We Learned for Next Year
Get real insights on evidence-based grading from K-12 leaders.
Content provided by Otus
Mathematics Webinar How to Build Students’ Confidence in Math
Learn practical tips to build confident mathematicians in our webinar.
Student Achievement K-12 Essentials Forum How to Build and Scale Effective K-12 State & District Tutoring Programs
Join this free virtual summit to learn from education leaders, policymakers, and industry experts on the topic of high-impact tutoring.

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Education Briefly Stated: April 16, 2025
Here's a look at some recent Education Week articles you may have missed.
9 min read
Education Quiz ICYMI: Do You Know What 'High-Quality Curriculum' Really Means?
Test your knowledge on the latest news and trends in education.
1 min read
Image of curricula.
iStock/Getty
Education Quiz ICYMI: Lawsuits Over Trump's Education Policies And More
Test your knowledge on the latest news and trends in education.
1 min read
Image of money symbol, books, gavel, and scale of justice.
DigitalVision Vectors
Education Quiz ICYMI: Trump Moves to Shift Special Ed Oversight And More
Test your knowledge on the latest news and trends in education.
1 min read
President Donald Trump signs an executive order on TikTok in the Oval Office of the White House, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, in Washington.
President Donald Trump signs an executive order on TikTok in the Oval Office of the White House, Monday, Jan. 20, 2025, in Washington.
Evan Vucci/AP