For the first time in perhaps decades, Chicago public school students are eating roasted chicken cooked from scratch at school. But the chicken on lunch trays today is special for reasons beyond the fact that its not in the form of nuggets or patties: It was raised without the use of antibiotics.

The $250,000 prize will be used as a way to promote best practices among charter school operators.

Sometimes forging a collaborative relationship requires both sides to take a leap of faith, union and district officials say.

The short-term results show improved student performance after districts added extra time, brought in tutors and made other reform moves.

The Center for American Progress in Washington identified eight states it believes are leading the nation in creating innovative paths to school leadership. The report also points out eight states that it believes are using outdated methods to develop school principals.

A study shows that delegating non-educational tasks to an administration manager allows principals to spend far more time on leadership activities.

The October report, from the Washington-based Council of the Great City Schools, was used as support for a jobs bill sponsored by the Obama administration.

The district's teacher union sees the proposal to extend the school day as a way to get teachers to work longer without extra pay.

The money would be spent on a pilot program to develop computer-based tests and search some test sheets for suspicious erasures.

The board's 2009 decision to eliminate a school assignment policy based on socioeconomic diversity was a major issue in the Tuesday election.