Illinois currently permits districts to finance repairs and construction related to children's health, life, or safety through a modest "backdoor" referendum rate tied to property values. These repairs are ameliorative but not preventative. This article recommends a strategic capital preservation plan that sets aside funds for use in…

District-level supervisors perform critical functions for enhancing teaching and learning systemwide. This case study found that district supervisors divided their time among the district, district departments, and the school. At all three levels, central office administrators were engaged in two focal activities: resource management and problem…

This paper discusses resource allocation at the school level, concentrating particularly on school-based budgeting. School-based budgeting is a process calling for preparation and administration of a budget for the allocation of the individual school's resources by the school principal, usually in consultation with staff and parents. The paper…

Five primary methods used by recreation and park agencies to establish a price are reviewed: (1) going-rate pricing; (2) demand oriented pricing; (3) variable cost pricing; (4) partial overhead pricing; and (5) average cost pricing. (CJ)

Describes school-level K-12 revenue and expenditure data collection in California, Texas, Florida, and Minnesota. Neither California nor Minnesota collects school-site fiscal data. Florida's highly advanced district and school-level data collection system has inconsistently reported standardized test scores. Texas has developed a good database to…

Israeli principals are actively redefining their role and are evolving from routine-managers to leader-managers. This role change is reflected in four pivotal areas: resource allocation, organizational framework, governance, and market structure. Israeli principals are required to be environmental managers who mobilize resources and manage…

The Rural Initiative Program funds projects addressing specific rural education problems. Sample projects, chosen both by matching programs to selection criteria and by competition, include: staff development improvement, tele-teaching, expanded rural course offerings, and school-based entrepreneurship. This paper discusses cost analysis…

The 1988 Chicago reforms require the school system to raise its student achievement levels to national norms in five years, reallocate resources away from the administration and toward schools, and establish local school councils as the basis for school-based management. So far, this reform implementation has not significantly affected student…

The major problem facing educational administrators in the next decade will be the need to control costs within the context of reduced resources. This paper, by centering its discussion around the problem of declining enrollments, discusses the role of administrators in educational finance. Restrictions to cost control in Canadian schools are…

Reviews, from a management accountant and funding council chief executive's perspective, relationship among (British) funding council models for competitive funding of higher education institutions, resource management, and quality assessments of teaching and learning. Posits a constrained funding environment for the rest of the 1990s. Concludes…

Traces financial aspects of the Chicago Public Schools' reform effort, detailing the prereform growth of bureaucracy that prompted legislated reallocation of the system's funds. Data show that funds have been reallocated to reduce administrative bureaucracy and equalize funding between schools. Schools with many low-income students have more…

The Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 (ESEA), as amended, authorizes most federal programs for elementary and secondary education and is administered by the U.S. Department of Education. The major ESEA program is the Chapter 1, Title I program of grants to local education agencies for supplementary educational and related service to…

Analyzes the extent to which resources are equitably distributed among all students and among students with special needs, within and across districts, in New York state's elementary schools. (WD)

Strategies used by Griffith University (Australia) to control quality, in response to increasing external pressure for accountability, are outlined. The central strategy involves devolving responsibility to faculties and schools, who must develop plans for quality control within their own academic cultures. Barriers to implementation, including…

Several types of institutional budgeting systems are examined, focusing on one type, revenue attribution budgeting. Implementation of such a system at the University of Utrecht (Netherlands) is described. Approaches to decentralization of operational units in the institution, as a means of reducing costs, and its advantages and disadvantages, are…