News briefs: Thursday, November 1, 2012

A supportive working environment reduces teacher attrition and boosts student achievement, a new Harvard University study has found.

The seemingly impregnable retail giant Walmart is being hit with strikes. In Elwood, Ill., workers at the distribution center won full back pay for the three weeks they were out on strike.

The U.S. Department of Education withheld $36 million in special education funds from South Carolina in October, carrying out a penalty imposed on the state for cutting its own spending on special-needs students.

Most public school students will soon be expected to take tests online because their states have adopted the Common Core State Standards. Yet with tight budgets, school districts wonder how to pay for improvements.

When Florida grades its teachers, it doesn’t account for students’ race or economic status. But now when it sets academic performance goals, it will grade itself on a curve — with targets related to race and income — after the state Board of Education approved a new six-year strategic plan with student-achievement goals that vary based upon race, income, disability and English proficiency.

Getting a green card for residency in the United States is difficult — unless you’re: 1. rich; and 2. an investor. Among charter schools’ latest financial angels are deep-pocketed types from as far away as China, Nigeria, Russia and Australia.