Elizabeth Halsey is an immoral English teacher at John Adams Middle School (JAMS) in Cook County, Illinois. She is foul-mouthed and greedy, drinks alcohol heavily, smokes marijuana, and shows movies while sleeping through class. She plans to quit teaching and marry her wealthy fiancé Mark, but resumes her job when he dumps her after learning she is only after his money. Elizabeth tries to win over substitute teacher Scott Delacorte, who is also wealthy because his family runs a watch company. Amy Squirrel, a dedicated and enthusiastic colleague, also pursues Scott while the school's gym teacher, Russell Gettis, makes it clear that he is interested in Elizabeth romantically, and she is not interested in him because he is a gym teacher.