Discusses the history and philosophy of the premise of rural localism from Lyndon Johnson's War on Poverty to its present relationship to the New Federalism of the Reagan administration. Concludes that the concept and its consequences should be reexamined by those in the rural social work profession. (Author/BRR)

Describes how New York City's African Free School became a focal point of Black community aspirations in the early 1800s and how the Black community struggled, with limited success, to maintain a role in determination of educational policies in the school. (CMG)

An attorney involved in Alaska's "Molly Hootch Case" chronicles the events surrounding the class action suit, which resulted in a 1976 consent decree to establish a high school program in all of the 126 villages that wanted one. Legal, educational, and cultural consequences for bush Alaska are discussed. (BS)

In order to determine why community control groups and low income people have been excluded from power, this study describes and analyzes in detail the politics of education in a typical New York City public school district. (Author/JLF)

The author considers the 1974 Kanawha County textbook censorship controversy as an attempt by fundamentalist parents to banish "alien" moral influences from the schools and to strengthen community control over learning. He focuses on the role and views of school board member Alice Moore, a leading spokesperson of the fundamentalists.…

In 1969 after an intense political campaign, three Mexican Americans won seats on the board of trustees of the Cucamonga (California) School District--the Chicano Movement's first successful effort at community control of a school board. Political organizing strategies, community-initiated self-help projects, the new board's educational reforms,…

The factory model of organization that resulted from the ascension of industry and economic expansion between 1897 and 1921 was applied to education as well as business. National recommendations aimed to standardize rural education, but local application of these unilateral templates reflected local rural cultures. Examples discussed are…

This paper was commissioned by the Education Commission of the States to identify the educational needs of Puerto Rican students in the mainland United States. A historical overview of Puerto Rico, Puerto Ricans, and their relationships with mainland United States is presented with a focus on the Puerto Rican emigration to the mainland. The role…

Historically, participation in school affairs gave rural people a working knowledge of how democracy functioned. In the late 19th century, power shifted from the voice of the many to the voice of a few, as "expert" opinion increasingly influenced state legislators, governors, and national political leaders. The push to consolidate…

Traces the historical relationship between Native Americans and cultural institutions such as museums through three stages: objectification of native peoples themselves as cultural artifacts, interpretation of native cultures on the basis of Eurocentric standards and from the viewpoint of the "vanishing native," and development of…

Chinese "people-managed schools" began in the 1940s as popular voluntary village schools providing flexible relevant education to rural peasants, but are regarded today as low status and low quality. This change reflects the Chinese Communist Party's incremental move away from both decentralized decision making and populist education to…

More than a century of centralized government and church control of Aboriginal education in Canada, aimed primarily at cultural assimilation, resulted in injustices, widespread inequalities, and underdevelopment. In the 1970s, after much political wrangling, the Canadian federal government and the First Nations agreed upon a policy of Indian…

Among the first of the Model Cities programs, Dayton's program was directed by African American community activists, who instituted important school and neighborhood reforms but blocked efforts to racially desegregate the public schools. The story of Dayton's Model Cities Demonstration Project raises important questions about whether urban renewal…

Outlines the primary arguments and much of the available evidence on desirable school size. Summarizes important factors in the history of U.S. school consolidation. Suggests that the key to the school size debate may be educational control rather than educational quality. Contains 39 references. (SV)

Between 1870 and 1930, a "second great transformation" in the Northeast and Midwest was characterized by centralization of the economy, expansion of state power and professional expertise, and a rising urban consumer culture. Communities in the rural North faced a number of challenges: diminishing local control over schools and roads,…