Community colleges offer an important pathway to the middle class. However, many students fall off the path along the way; almost half of students drop out and only 38% complete a degree within eight years, according to an analysis by Preston Cooper of the American Enterprise Institute. These statistics are even worse for at-risk, minority and…

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is intended to provide federal financial assistance to states in ensuring that qualified students with disabilities are receiving a free appropriate public education (FAPE). Indeed, approximately 6.4 million students ages 3-21, representing about 13% of school-age children, received services…

One of the major story lines of the growth of civilization is the advance of the experiment. From the food we eat to the diseases we conquer to our understanding of how we think and behave, we have profited enormously from an approach that marries our models of the world with tests of their validity through systematic variation to determine cause…

Background: In 2009, the Obama Administration announced its intention to rapidly "turn around" 5,000 of the nation's lowest-performing schools. To do so, it relied on the School Improvement Grant (SIG) program to provide temporary funding for states and schools, and to mandate drastic, school-level reforms. Most of these reforms require…

When President Franklin D. Roosevelt took office on March 4, 1933, 15 million Americans, or one quarter of the nation's workers, were jobless. Hope faded as despair spread. Three years later, on July 10, 1936, Roosevelt took a special overnight train from Washington, D.C., to New York City for the dedication of the Triborough Bridge. The next day,…

This article highlights the accomplishments of the Healthy Homes Partnership, which recently celebrated its 10th anniversary. Since the program began in 1999, funds totaling $2.7 million have been distributed to 34 states and Virgin Islands Extension programs through a competitive process. Extension professionals have used the funds as seed grants…

This study explores the influence of the 1994 tax reform on intraprovincial inequality in financing basic education. The empirical analysis finds that the reform has decreased inequality in general, suggesting that the center may attain its policy goal through centralizing its relative fiscal capability and increasing the intergovernmental…

During the past 20 years, afterschool programs have become an increasingly vital part of most American communities. Today, some 6.5 million children across the nation participate in these programs. Another 15 million children would participate if a program were available to them, according to their parents. These numbers tell at least two…

The value of scientific research can only be measured by the resulting benefits to society. Federal policymakers must ensure that funding for research and development is adequate and that research results are applied to the serious problems facing state and local governments. (SK)

This case study explores devolution of low-income student subsidies, via the national student loans program, from the central to local governments in Latvia by means of decentralizing political and financial responsibility to provide public assistance to low-income students in obtaining funds for higher education. It describes municipal engagement…

Tax and expenditure limitations will accelerate the rate of the slowdown in state and local government growth and may increase both the interdependence of governmental units and the centralization of the system at the state level. Journal availability: see EA 511 898. (Author/IRT)

Only the federal government has the power and resources to address the housing crisis. National policy should extend resources to grassroots groups which will design housing programs and policies according to local conditions. Important issues are: (1) preserving existing subsidized housing; (2) providing capital; (3) constructing affordable…

In Great Britain the Advanced Further Education Pool supports polytechnics and colleges. Although the "pool" of expenditure has been "capped," allocations for 1980/81 were dependent on the size of claims made by individual authorities. It is suggested that these claims bear no consistent relationship to past expenditure or…

In court cases involving undocumented aliens' access to social services, each litigant (including federal, state, and county governments and private hospitals) is attempting to pass responsibility for services provision to the others. Central to the debate are definitions of residency and liability, as influenced by cultural values and…

Dollar amounts of research support from federal, state and local, industry, institutional, and other sources are charted for each state, the District of Columbia, and the territories. (MSE)