There’s lot of news to share this week and  just when you thought the Friday snow day streak was broken, most area schools are closed, so there’s plenty of time to catch up on your reading.

Roanoke Times I File photo

– Local education news this week (and there’s been a lot of it) has really run the gamut from Franklin County schools employees charged in a murder for hire scheme to a longtime principal’s retirement to Roanoke City Public Schools making their primetime debut in a PBS documentary about school violence. And lest we forget this tiny, but noteworthy, nugget from Roanoke County about the system increasing its Advanced Placement offerings and achievement.

– Over in Richmond as usual there is never a dull moment. A House committee defeats a provision to close the gap between Virginia teacher salaries and the national average teacher salary.

A House committee endorsed a measure requring middle school civic and economics teachers, as well as high school government and history teachers, take an online course on Virginia history and government to renew their teaching license.

The state is also poised to take over failing Virginia schools by setting up a school district to take control over those denied accreditation. Though not everyone is pleased with the measure.

And youth sports may soon be required to pay closer attention to concussions by establishing procedures for identifying and handling them.

Roanoke Times file photo

– Turning an eye to some national stories. There’s a couple in the New York Times this week, including this story on the increasing number of jobs that require a college degree. The end of this story notes the camaraderie in one office formed around the fact all the staffers went to college, which I thought was interesting. And gym is more than recess. Duh. Just ask the folks at West Salem Elementary School. You’ll recall this story from a few weeks ago that chronicled how they use physical activity each morning to bolster reading skills.

– This story from Marketplace talks about how more colleges are not giving credit for AP exams. It notes that some high school Advanced Placement courses are just not as tough as college courses. Even so the rigor is still important to student achievement, and the piece mentions that too.

– This Reuters piece about charter schools and how admissions can be tough is making the rounds. Confession: it’s pretty long and so far I’ve only read half of it. But I intend to finis. So far it’s pretty interesting to see what some schools require.

– Teachers who are bullied? It certainly caught my eye. It sounded pretty usual, but it’s a reality for some and North Carolina has a new law aimed at preventing students from cyber bullying teachers.

-- And teacher satisfaction has hit a low point. Only 39 percent of educators described themselves as very satisfied with their jobs.

So, what did I miss? What caught your eye this week?