EDUCATION

The latest news and information on New Orleans area schools

• British education guru gets La. gig
A top adviser to former British Prime Minister Tony Blair has been working quietly since August with Louisiana education officials to help the state develop a strategy for attracting and keeping high-quality teachers and leaders in its schools.

• Students classing up wetlands
The patch of wetlands beside Lake Pontchartrain claimed by a group of St. Charles Parish middle school students has come a long way since the students and other volunteers pulled car parts, refrigerators and washing machines out of its mud 11 years ago.

• BODY AND SOUL
Waiting for a Helen Cox High School administrator to print his first-term report card, Roy Middleton III nervously drummed the countertop inside the principal's office.

• LSU-VA shared hospital site is affirmed
During a news conference short on suspense but high on political star power, Louisiana State University and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs confirmed Tuesday they intend to build their new teaching hospitals in downtown New Orleans.

• Ex-educator pleads guilty in rape of 6-year-old girl
A former assistant principal at Lee Road Junior High School pleaded guilty Monday to raping a 6-year-old girl and possessing child pornography.

• Donated software to help study Earth
Software worth $318,000 has been given to the University of New Orleans' Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences for use in classes and research projects.

• School nonprofit up and running
St. Charles Parish public schools have a new, nonprofit supporter.

• School Board rolls back millage rate
The St. Tammany Parish School Board on Thursday followed through on its pledge to accept a rolled-back millage rate after this year's property reassessment, meaning most taxpayers will not see an increase in school-related taxes.

• School districts target dropout rates
Superintendents of the three River Parishes public school districts say they are taking measures to lower dropout rates, ranging from loaning students laptop computers to monitoring attendance and grades for early warning signs of dropping out.

• Schools chief backs off hair ruling
An American Indian boy who wears his hair in a braid as part of a religious custom will be allowed to remain at his Slidell school after the superintendent of St. Tammany Parish schools reversed an earlier decision that the child would have to cut his hair or wear his braid in a bun.

• Some schools ban talk about election
Crowded into the multipurpose room at Mandeville Elementary School on the morning of Nov. 5, the student body of more than 500 boys and girls joined American citizens and people throughout the world in celebrating the election of Barack Obama, who will become the country's first black president.

• Taxing bodies holding back
Except for fire protection districts, most taxing bodies in St. Tammany Parish have heeded a call from local legislators, officials and the general public to maintain lower property tax rates.

• Teacher says she didn't get bonus
Like many teachers drawn to New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, Staci Morgan wanted to contribute to the rebuilding of the city.