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"Teacher seniority rules are meeting resistance from government officials and parents as a wave of layoffs is hitting public schools and driving newer teachers out of classrooms. In a majority of the country's school districts, teacher layoffs are handled on a "last in, first out" basis. Critics of seniority rules worry that many effective and talented teachers who have been hired in recent years will lose their jobs. "

The U.S. Department of Education on Thursday will release the final version of its much-awaited "gainful employment" rule that punishes career-training programs for graduating students with heavy debt loads. The rule, one of the most controversial to come out of that office in years, is an effort to ensure the programs are preparing students for legitimate jobs. This final version is less severe than a draft released last summer, giving programs more opportunities to right themselves if they run afoul of the measure.

" Preview: Obama's 2013 Budget February 13, 2012 - 3:00am By Libby A. Nelson WASHINGTON -- President Obama today will propose spending $8 billion on job training programs at community colleges over the next three years, part of a budget for the 2013 fiscal year that also would increase spending on Education Department programs and some scientific research. The president will outline the job-training proposal in more detail in a speech at Northern Virginia Community College this morning. But unlike past calls to spend more on community colleges, this plan is aimed squarely at an election-year message of "jobs, jobs, jobs" rather than the administration's goal of increasing the number of Americans with college degrees. The proposal, as outlined by Education Department officials Sunday evening, builds on job training programs already in existence -- especially the Trade Act Assistance Community College Career Training Program, which began making grants to community colleges in September. If approved by Congress, the president's proposal would provide $1.3 billion each per year to the Education and Labor Departments, on top of the trade act grants. While it's unclear whether the money would create new federal programs or build up existing ones, the funds would be spent at community colleges that train workers for jobs in high-demand fields, according to materials released by the Education Department. Programs that are especially successful at finding jobs for their graduates, or at placing those who traditionally have difficulty finding work, would be eligible for additional money. The grants would also be used to encourage partnerships between businesses, states, local governments and community colleges, and to create an online course to encourage entrepreneurs. The money would also support paid internships for low-income college students. But the plan would shut out for-profit colleges, which would not be eligible for the additional funds -- a move alm

Q: I have worked for many companies and have been told repeatedly that company rules won't allow them to give out references. I have gone to two temp agencies, and they had to drop me from jobs because I had only one reference. What is one to do to get around this problem?

"Developing employment opportunities for individuals with difficult backgrounds can be extremely challenging, especially in today's economy. Even when these candidates have strong vocational skills, many have difficulty finding or keeping good jobs. They just can't get along with their coworkers, won't listen to their supervisors, seem unwilling to follow common sense expectations. Why is this, and what can we do to help?"

Work-life balance. In most corporate circles, it's the sort of phrase that gives hard-charging managers the hives, bringing to mind yoga-infused, candlelit meditation sessions and - more frustratingly - rows of empty office cubicles.