When the state of Texas took control of the Houston Independent School District (HISD) in the summer of 2023, it marked the end of a multi-year legal battle between the district and the Texas Education Agency (TEA) and the beginning of a community-led campaign to re-take control of the district. Since, students and community groups have rallied to…

This paper reports on a small-scale longitudinal study of "local" leadership roles at two UK universities. The research explored perceptions of the leadership provided by a specific group of staff who held roles for enhancing learning and teaching. Based on ethnographic design principles, the study was based at one UK higher education…

This paper reviews the meaning and content of various First-Nation self-government discourses that have emerged over the last 40 years. Based on a detailed thematic analysis of policy papers, reports, and self-governance agreements on this issue of First-Nations control of education, this paper presents a coherent and defensible understanding of…

This paper examined the debate on a reform of school-based management in Hong Kong, which was to set up the Incorporated Management Committee (IMC) to manage the subsidized school. The nature of the debate during legislation and the characteristics of the reform were examined. The advantages, disadvantages and the implications of the reform were…

Reviews current governance problems in education and details the range of possible governance models for post-industrial schooling. After describing problems that governance must address, the paper describes various possibilities for school governance in the future. Five types of control processes are considered. Ideological foundations of an…

Contrasts activities and organizational structures of two Canadian community development initiatives: the Antigonish Movement and the Family of Cape Breton community development corporations. Finds ideological differences in the view of property and profit, governance and accountability, and role of education. Concludes that Antigonish is more…

State and federal governments in Australia have developed a range of policy instruments for rural areas in Australia that are infused with a new sense of "community," employing leading concepts like social capital, social enterprise, community development, partnerships and community building. This has encouraged local people and…

This article focuses on the extent to which the legislative framework and education-funding models applicable to school education in South Africa post-1994 have, in attempting to address historical inequalities, resulted in a particular form of privatisation of public education. The article sets out the extent of the autonomy available to all…

This document is based upon Charles A. Ratliff's perspective on California community college governance. It was originally published in the journal, "Insight Into Student Services" in May 2003. Mr. Ratliff discusses the historical emergence of the California community college as a system and the major external pressures that have been…

Elected school boards' skeptical eyes can guard against bad management practices and ensure that different voices get heard. Problems with board governance are a product of too little democracy. A democratic reform strategy would make board elections partisan, hold them on the same day as elections for more prominent state or national offices,…

The successes and failures in balancing state and local control of public community colleges are explored in this collection of essays describing effective and non-effective coordinating and planning efforts. Vincent S. Darnowski explores the Connecticut community colleges' struggle with a centralized state bureaucracy. Sidney W. Brossman uses the…

Argues that local school districts in California have been rendered essentially obsolete by state funding and control due to the combined effects of the "Serrano" decision (requiring statewide school expenditure equalization) and Proposition 13. One board president and two superintendents take issue with this judgment. (TE)

Public control of the schools has steadily eroded in recent years. Population growth and widespread consolidation of school districts, depoliticization of school board elections, adoption of the business model of professional school management, development of a multilevel school bureaucracy, and unionization of teachers all have combined to…