EDUCATORS
Eligible educators can deduct out-of-pocket expenses for COVID-19 protective items used in classroom, IRS says
SAN ANTONIO – If you’re an educator filing a tax return this year, you may be eligible to deduct unreimbursed expenses for COVID-19 protective items used in the classroom. The educator expense deduction applies to eligible educators for unreimbursed expenses paid or incurred after March 12, 2020, for the COVID-19 protective items. The IRS says eligible educators include any individual who is a kindergarten through 12th grade teacher, instructor, counselor, principal or aide in a school for at least 900 hours during a school year. The IRS will allow educators to deduct up to $250 of qualifying expenses per year. AdThe IRS says the deduction applies to expenses paid or incurred only during the tax year.
Daywatch: Lightfoot pushing for restaurants to reopen, Biden unveils COVID stimulus plan and inside Illinois’ most expensive home
As Chicago Public Schools works through its first week of in-person learning since March, 100 educators are still considered absent without leave, meaning they have been denied pay and locked out of their Google accounts for failing to report to school buildings for an extended length of time. Some parents say CPS is effectively punishing their children by cutting off their teachers’ access to remote teaching, in some cases even though none of their students has returned for in-person classes.
chicagotribune.comNew initiative will recruit Black and brown Chicago students to become CPS educators: ‘There is power in the teachers of color. We understand our children’s stories.’
“To truly make this initiative a success, CPS must value both incoming and veteran educators of color in its buildings, and make schools hospitable places to learn and grow in professional, anti-racist communities,” Davis Gates said. “The district must also be committed to collaborating with stakeholders who have been doing the work in this arena for years, and also to eradicating policies that have stripped our schools of Black and Brown educators: charter proliferation, school closings, punitive teacher evaluation and high-stakes entry programs.”
chicagotribune.comCicero teachers criticize plan to bring them back into schools to deliver remote lessons in empty classrooms
“This community really puts a lot of trust in their public educators, and we need to be sure they are given the right information, so they can make educational decisions for their children,” Esposito said. “This is a strong community and a united community, and most of them are saying, this is not the right time for anyone to be back in school buildings.”
chicagotribune.comFormer Atlanta educators sentenced for cheating scandal
After being convicted in a conspiracy to inflate students' test scores, former Atlanta school educators were sentenced in court Tuesday. All but one of the ten were handed jail time, ranging from one year to seven years. Jericka Duncan reports.
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