Earlier this week, Democratic Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson announce an ambitious new plan to overhaul the city's failing public schools. Ohio Governor John Kasich, a Republican, quickly announced his support for the plan. The reason these two politicians find themselves in agreement over the plan is because Jackson's school overhaul includes many of the same tenants as the controversial, Kasich-backed Senate Bill 5.

Jackson's plan calls for changes to state law, which would give the Cleveland Metropolitan School District more autonomy. It also plans to eliminate seniority as the deciding factor for employee layoffs and assignments, and will require differentiated pay to attract talented teachers and principals. Furthermore, it would require that Cleveland schools and unions start future contract negotiations without carryover items from previous agreements. The plan would also provide targeted funding for year-round schools, high-performing charter schools and other initiatives.

In his State of the State speech on Tuesday in Columbus, Gov. Kasich said:

“I’m counting on Cleveland to deliver the goods. We can change urban education in Ohio and change the urban education in America. And that is worth fighting for and risking for.”

A Pennsylvania university is causing quite a commotion after it announced that it will offer the Plan B emergency contraceptive pill at a vending machine in its health center.

Shippensburg University will offer the pill for $25 in a machine located in a private room in the health center. The pill is only legal for those over 17-years-old, but the school determined that all of is 8,300 are over that age.

University spokesman Peter Gigliotti says that anyone can't just walk in from the street and purchase the pills:

"The machine is in a private room in our health center, and the health center is only accessible by students. In addition, no one can walk in off the street and go into the health center. Students proceed to a check-in desk located in the lobby and after checking in are granted access to the treatment area."

Since the school doesn't have any students aged 17 or younger, they're safe for now. But should any younger students enroll in the future, they may legally be required to remove the vending machines. As many other larger universities and colleges across the country do have younger students, Shippensburg's vending machine policy couldn't be perfectly duplicated everywhere.

Jim Tressel, who has been without a job since being forced to resign amid a scandal at Ohio State University, has been hired by the University of Akron. Tressel was named Akron's vice president for strategic engagement at a press conference held on Thursday by college President Luis Proenza.

Tressel was said to have been helpful to Akron during its search for a new head coach.

Baldwin-Wallace College in Tressel's hometown of Berea was also said to have been interested in Tressel, as well as Wittenburg University. Sources said Wednesday night that Tressel had goals outside of athletics.

Tressel has reportedly sold his home in Upper Arlington to prepare for his new job in a new area of the state.

South University, a for-profit college with campuses in several different states, announced plans to open up a 40,000-square-foot campus in Warrensville Heights. Classes are expected to begin on April 7.

The college will be located on Richmond Road near U.S. Route 422, and will offer degrees in criminal justice, paralegal studies, legal studies, business administration, and other subject areas.

South University has campuses in Austin, Texas; Richmond, Virginia; Montgomery, Alabama; and Novi, Michigan. The college's parent company, Education Management Corp. of Pittsburgh, also runs Brown Mackie College, which has campuses in Akron and North Canton.

In light of the scandals plaguing various NCAA athletic teams in recent years, some have suggested that colleges simply be allowed to pay their players. Ohio State Rep. Alicia Reece (D-Bond Hill) and State Rep. Clayton Luckie (D-Dayton) are co-sponsors of a bill that would allow universities in Ohio to pay athletes annual stipends of up to $8,000 and would also allow outside sources to pay athletes up to $4,000.

The bill would permit NCAA Division 1 schools to pay up to $8,000, Division II schools to pay up to $6,000, and other schools to pay up to $4,000.

Last year, the NCAA board approved a rule that would let schools give athletes stipends of up to $2,000. However, it was suspended after more than 125 schools objected.

The bill comes after a scandal at Ohio State University, in which players sold memorabilia for tattoos and cash, a violation of NCAA rules.

On Friday, a group of peacefully, sitting students at the UC Davis campus were assaulted by police with pepper spray for refusing to end their Occupy Wall Street protests on campus. The video of the incident went viral online, sparking outrage across the country for the school's treatment of nonviolent protesters. UC system president Mark Yudof has now responded to the events that unfolded last week, saying that he is "appalled" and has ordered an urgent review of police procedures at all ten UC campuses.

Yudof's order was prompted by two incidents - the pepper spraying at Davis, and a November 10 incident in which Berkeley police were filmed beating students with batons. Yudof issued a statement on the UC website in which he says that he will convene the chancellors of all of the ten campuses for a discussion on "proportional law enforcement response to non-violent protest."

Yudof, a law professor and expert on First Amendment issues, said in the statement:

"Free speech is part of the DNA of this university, and nonviolent protest has long been central to our history," Yudof said. "It is a value we must protect with vigilance. I implore students who wish to demonstrate to do so in a peaceful and lawful fashion. I expect campus authorities to honor that right."

On Friday, a group of students at the University of California, Davis, who are a part of he Occupy Wall Street movement on campus, became the latest victims of alleged police brutality. The police actions against peaceful protesters were captured on video, and show the students seated on the ground as a UC Davis police officer holds up a canister of pepper spray, showing it off to the crowd of students gathered, before spraying the students in a thick, heavy mist.

The incident was witnessed by many, including students and professors. Several were hospitalized, and one woman was treated for chemical burns.

A longer version of the video shows students seated across a walkway surrounded by more than a dozen UC Davis cops donning riot gear and batons. Many other students are seen standing along the edges of the scene, watching as the attack unfolded and protesting. One of the police comes over to the line of seated students asks a question, to which the student replies "We're sitting here." The cop then leaves and goes back with the other officers, even turning his back on the students, suggesting no fear that they may retaliate. A cop talks on his radio for awhile, and then a cop goes back to the students. A student asks:

A female teacher at North Ridgeville High School was placed on leave after she was accused of sending two photos of herself to a student and possibly having a sexual relationship with another student.

The name of the teacher has not yet been released as no charges have been filed. According to police, she acknowledged sending the pictures, one of which was her in a bikini top, and having "inappropriate and flirtatious" conversations mainly via text messaging with one, maybe two, students. However, she has denied that any kind of sexual relationship occurred.

An investigation into the claims began Wednesday when another teacher overheard a rumor among students about a teacher sending inappropriate pictures to at least one teen. That teacher than reported it to school leaders, who began investigating. The teacher voluntarily came forward, saying she had heard the rumors around the school.

Police held a news conference on Thursday, but many questions went unanswered as the investigation is so new. Police captain Marti Garrow said that they searched the teacher's home and seized her computer and other electronic equipment.

Randy Lambreghts, a Belgian graduate student at Dartmouth college, was taking chemistry classes at the school and was using those skills at home by running a meth lab out of his apartment. He was arrested Sunday after cops responded to a medical emergency at his home in Hanover, New Hampshire, and found evidence that the student was cooking meth, said police.

Lambreghts' roommate called authorities because he feared for the 28-year-old's mental and physical health.

Campus police arrived at Lambreghts' apartment located at 3 School St., a building that houses approximately twelve other grad students and that is on the same street as a few undergraduate residences.

Campus police called the town police after seeing evidence that led them to suspect that a meth lab was being run out of the apartment. The town police then called in firefighters and the Federal Drug Enforcement Administration. The building was evacuated and firefighters handled hazardous materials inside the apartment.

Lambreghts was also asked to shower at the apartment to decontaminate himself, and was then taken to a hospital for evaluation.

At the start of 2011, Peter Raskind took over as the CEO of the Cleveland Metropolitan School District after Eugene Sanders vacated the position. The former head of National City Bank prior to its sale to PNC in 2008, Raskind took on the job for a meager $1 salary. Last night, Raskind attended his final school board meeting and received his salary in full.

Pleased with the job he had done, Cleveland City Council members doubled Raskind's salary last night, giving him another dollar. That brought Raskind's full salary for approximately six months of work to a meager $2. In honor of his service, Council also named July 1 as Peter Raskind Day.

Eric Gordon was named the district's new CEO earlier this month.