Donald Sterling in Crew?

My school spends a lot of time on social and character education.  There have been many crises over the years that have come and gone that I have not talked about and somewhat regret.  The most famous was the shooting of Trayvon Martin which I just didn't know about.  We did discuss the Sandy Hook elementary shooting and the idea of teachers carrying guns in school (which I am against).

So, how should the most recent racist comments allegedly from Donald Sterling be talked about?  I know there are many of my students, especially my African American males, will want to talk about this topic.  In addition, there are the abusive relationship aspects of this recorded conversation that is worthy of conversation as well.

The question I pose is: What do other teachers do with crises like these?

Turn-over in a School - How much is too much?

As we near the end of the school year and people start making decisions about what is best for them and their family, my mind always turns to the idea of turn-over. It is a well-established fact that teacher turn-over is high, but what percentage of turn-over is too high for a school to sustain positive growth?  We are a growing school and the influx of new blood is great, but losing talented teachers is a problem. What are your experiences at your schools?  What systems exist to help inculcate new staff to a specific school's philosophy?  Please comment below to help me out!

Teacher-Leadership Finding the Right Balance

As I start down the home stretch of my first year as Team Leader at my school I have been reflecting on how my time spent helping (hopefully) my school become a better place I realize it has come at a cost of making my class the best that it can be.

I spend about 80% of my time and energy on my classes.  I teach the equivalent of 6 different preps (3 a day, blocked over 2 days) and a few of them are classes that I have created that are new this year.  The effort required to run these classes at a high level it exhausting, so for a few of my classes I have been relying heavily on what I did last year.  Any good teacher can tell you that it is the extra touches that you can put on a class that take a class from good to great.  I just don't think I'm there this year.

My question is, what degree of "good" should I accept in order to help the school?  I have instituted several changes that have impacted the school in what I feel are very positive ways.  Is the 20% of my energy put into the school away from my classes an acceptable sacrifice to my students?

I should give a little bit of background in.  First, I teach at a small school so getting an hour or so off to do leadership stuff is not an option.  Also, teaching fewer preps wasn't an option this year and may not be an option in the coming years either.  What is an option is giving up leadership and focusing on my classes should that be the course I decide to take.  I'd love ideas that would help me that are constructive.