The Education Reform Act 1988 obliges the Local Education Authorities (LEAs) to delegate budgets to the colleges within their control by means of a formula, but does not say what should happen within colleges once the delegated budget has been received. This paper reports some of the outcomes of an action learning and training program, carried out…

Offers an alternative to zero base budgeting called multi-level based budgeting. (Author/MLF)

This chapter of "Principles of School Business Management" analyzes the types of budget preparation that are used in school districts across the United States. The chapter proposes as a basic premise that the budgetary process is inherently political, and states that some budgeting methods may provide more useful political information…

This paper represents a backdrop from which to consider the development of a planning and budgeting model for local education agencies. The first part of the presentation describes the demands and external pressures that affect resource allocation decisions in school districts. The ability of local school officials to link the cost consequences…

Describes the basic concepts and suggested procedures for introducing zero base budgeting. (Author/MLF)

This newsletter summarizes the debate on the use of state-level initiatives as levers to effect fundamental changes in higher education. It provides several perspectives on the use of incentive/enhancement programs to achieve state higher education goals. The concept of budgetary leverage is outlined, and the growth in enhancement programs…

A 1979 Systems and Procedures Exchange Center (SPEC) survey focused on reviewing the current state of fiscal planning and cost studies in Association of Research Libraries (ARL) member libraries. The survey results indicate that, while some libraries are beginning to use cost analysis techniques to evaluate current programs, to plan for new…

Describes two types of program budgeting that were well received in the literature of the 1960s and 1970s. The results of a survey which examined the impact of zero-based budgeting (ZBB) and planning-programming-budgeting system (PPBS) on library budgets are presented, and potentially useful aspects of program budgeting are identified. (CLB)

Categorizes corporate libraries as service organizations and discusses organizational funding of libraries and the responsibility of the librarian within this context. The use of program budgets as negotiated contracts between the library and the organization in response to budget cuts is described. (CLB)

Identifies school financial planning techniques suitable for rural schools districts. Proposes a nine-step process: developing a planning policy, adopting a financial planning resolution, setting up a planning committee, analyzing district financial data, informing the public, developing the plan, presenting it to the public, amending and adopting…

A school district's governing board, superintendent, and business manager should work as an effective fiscal policy team with good communication. This self-assessment guide is designed to assist in the overall evaluation of fiscal policy team communication. Four sections (budget development, budget monitoring, financial reporting, and…

The first of two related pamphlets, this guide provides information on how to conduct cost-outcome analyses, with an emphasis on measuring costs. After an introduction that delineates the purpose of the two-part series, the pamphlet is divided into six major sections. The first section, "definitions and rationale," introduces…

Due to enrollment decline, reductions in federal support, and declining state support because of a constricted economy, growing inflation, expanding government and legal requirements, and the loss of public confidence in education, the Portland School District (Oregon) developed a short-term contingency budget planning process in fiscal 1980-81 to…

This document presents in detail the master plans for the 1983-84 school year of the District of Columbia public schools. Priority areas were identified as instruction, management improvement, planning, quality assurance, resource development, and community relations. General statements of long-range objectives and achievement indicators are…

Materials from Southwestern College, the Chancellor's Office of the California Community Colleges, and the California Research Bureau (CRB) are presented to help community college practitioners calculate curricular costs. First, a set of charts and forms from Southwestern College include the college's definition of curriculum efficiency,…