| Minister defends £30m university fund deal
The Scottish Government yesterday went on the offensive over the amount of money universities will receive after the spending review and said they have not been shortchanged. The SNP administration faced an angry backlash after universities across Scotland, who had asked for an increase in public funding of £168m above inflation by the end of the three-year deal, were instead given just £30m. In the wake of the announcement, institutions said the settlement would damage any prospect of funding new research and would make it difficult to pay for rising salaries and mounting pensions and fuel costs. University Principals argued it could even mean universities north of the Border would struggle to compete with rivals in England - particularly given the impact of top-up tuition fees there.
Hear this: Teacher won't let impairment affect his class
Lance Suter gave one final instruction to his fifth-grade students before they started a hands-on math activity. "If I can hear your conversation, you are being too loud," the Westview Elementary teacher told his class. "I don't mind you whispering to your neighbor. I can't hear that." Teachers in many classrooms plead for quiet voices, but the request takes on extra poignancy in Suter's room. Suter was diagnosed with bilateral progressive hearing loss when he was 4 years old. He uses a microphone in his classroom to amplify sounds directly into his hearing aid. He's being honest when he tells students that he won't be able to hear their whispers as they separate colored candy while learning percentages and fractions. It's rare for teachers with profound hearing loss to lead a traditional classroom, but Suter has taught mainstream students for 14 years.
Towns united by a name but divided over Scottish 'bias'
MY husband said we should move to Scotland because they get everything for free," said Lesley McCauley, a 34-year-old business administrator from Blackburn in Lancashire. Ms McCauley is one of the growing number of ordinary English people who are increasingly resentful of what they feel is Scotland's unfair advantage. .
Fellow educators angry over teacher's dismissal
Colleagues of fired Cascade High School teacher Kay Powers reacted with anger to her dismissal last week, saying the Everett School District had created a climate of fear and intimidation among staff. Teachers who worked with the former journalism and English teacher said Powers, 65, was a dedicated educator whose punishment doesn't fit the charges against her. "She was the kind of teacher who changed kids' lives," said fellow English teacher Steve Garmanian. "When word got out that she'd been fired, it was such a shock. It didn't seem at all proportional. None of the charges against her have anything to do with her teaching." Superintendent Carol Whitehead notified Powers on Nov. 2 that she had been terminated after a five-month investigation. Whitehead said Powers had helped students publish an underground newspaper and magazine on school time and with school resources in express violation of directives not to do so.
COSLA refuses to endorse deal
SENIOR councillors have refused to endorse the deal negotiated with ministers by their own leadership to freeze council taxes across Scotland next year. In a setback for John Swinney, the leaders of the country's 32 councils rejected an attempt to swing the local authorities' umbrella body, COSLA, behind the finance secretary's plans. .
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