Crossword Genius

Gossip with school facing lows, it's said (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

schmooze

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'gossip' is the definition.
(I know that schmooze is a type of gossip)

'school facing lows it's said' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'school' could be 'sch' (abbreviation) and 'sch' is found within the answer.
'it' could be 'e' ('e' can mean 'electronic' which is similar to 'IT') and 'e' is found in the answer.
This explanation may well be incorrect...

'with' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for schmooze that I've seen before include "Gossip in a friendly way" , "Talk ingratiatingly to" , "Chat socially" , "Talk intimately in order to manipulate" , "chatter" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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