This paper examines the financial transparency and accountability practices before and after the 2023 state takeover of the Houston Independent School District (HISD). Superintendent Mike Miles and his Board of Managers reallocated critical district resources towards troubling new "priorities," while the district was facing a sizable…

During and for many years after the 2008-10 Great Recession, financial crises in districts across the country triggered varying state involvement in those districts' finances and governance, up to and including complete takeover. While these actions were most prominent in a handful of states, all states have laws that enable them to intervene in…

This paper conceptualizes the U.S. federal government's response to the "Great Recession" as a "natural experiment" whose broad emphasis on counter-cyclical spending contrasts with the tendency towards stratification within the quasi-market for academic research support. Regression results indicate that resources tended to flow…

Like other states, Michigan has implemented a number of policies to change governance and administrative arrangements in local school districts deemed to be in financial emergency. This paper examines two questions: (1) Which districts get into financial trouble and why? and (2) Among fiscally distressed districts, are there significant…

This case represents a multitude of leadership dilemmas created by financial exigencies and the difficult decisions that must be made during times of economic austerity. Under the best of circumstances, deciding between programmatic elimination and/or employee termination is agonizing, onerous, and filled with political and social ramifications.…

Background: Teacher education is an area of concern both in the policy and practice domains in both international and national contexts. Internationally, there are a wide range teacher education programmes and there is also considerable diversity with reference to policy approaches that operationalise such provision. Purpose: This paper focuses on…

This pilot study looked at the British lay public's evaluation of 20 different disciplines by asking them to rank-order them. In a cutting-saving exercise those departments (disciplines) thought most worthy of saving were English, mathematics, and computer science; those rated as least important were anthropology, film and media studies, and…

Every college and university experiences some form of financial hardship at one time or another. The financial problems plaguing local and state governments in recent years have been sufficient by themselves to create serious problems for institutions across the country. At the very least, an institution's financial difficulties can lead to the…

Managing communities in economic decline takes special management skills, including knowledge of the change process, conflict resolution, organizational decision-making and leadership styles, power-base utilization, and management theory. Planners should consider a multiyear time frame, clear mission, prioritized core services, reallocated…

Offers a practical framework for dealing with budget reductions in community colleges. Describes horizontal cuts, which occur across the institution and affect programs and services proportionally, and vertical cuts, which target programs or services to achieve deeper reductions. Describes planning and revenue enhancement possibilities. (12…

Top state and local leaders in Maryland announced a plan last February to lend Baltimore $42 million to help the city's financially troubled school system. The money was used by Baltimore school leaders to address what they called a cash-flow emergency for that school year. Money helped pay employees' salaries for the rest of that year, and helped…

Franklin and Marshall College (Pennsylvania) has used institutional mission, strategic planning, lessons learned from previous experience, and sound general management principles to guide reallocation of resources during a period of financial constraint. The objective was repositioning, not retrenchment, and the resulting academic program is…

As a result of the economic crisis following the Arab/Israeli war of 1973, many developing countries cannot adequately finance quality education systems. Adjustment options in the education sector include increasing resources, improving the efficiency of current resources, developing cost efficiencies, and retrenchment. A foreign aid fund…

The role of institutional budgeting strategies in promoting institutional change is examined, looking specifically at two budget components (general-purpose lump sums and earmarked funds). Experiences of the University of Utrecht (Netherlands) with internal competition for reduced funds as a means for stimulating change are discussed. (MSE)

Steps taken by Phillips Academy (Massachusetts) to contain costs during a serious deficit included short-term measures (increasing tuition and some fees, increasing enrollment, tightening administrative procedures, reduced personnel costs, and reducing programs) and long-term actions (early faculty retirement, increased retirement benefits,…