After more than a decade of dedicated investment, state funding to assist local California school districts in the construction, modernization, and maintenance of their school facilities has come to a halt. As the Governor, the legislature, and other stakeholders debate the future of the state's K-12 school facility funding role, a big unknown…

After decades of dedicated investment, state funding to assist local California school districts in the construction, modernization, and maintenance of their school facilities has come to a halt. As the Governor, the legislature, and other stakeholders debate the future of the state's K-12 school facility funding role, a big unknown exists:…

A seminar was held to exchange experiences from participants on maintenance issues and attempt to define a common approach to the formulation of adequate and realistic maintenance policies and strategies. This paper discusses the major themes and conclusions from the seminar whose topics were structured around the knowledge of building stock,…

Provides an example of guidelines for establishing an energy conservation program in schools. (Author/CM)

Tells how a school district faced with financial difficulties developed a $2.5 million cost reduction plan that included consolidating positions and job descriptions without sacrificing programs or quality--and that ended in staff salary increases. (KS)

An Iowa school board established a policy that included a complete ban on nonmandated school busing with the option that parents could purchase busing for their children at the full district average cost. The program has provided necessary additional revenues to prevent budget cuts in educational programs. Provides information about the…

According to these authors, the Catholic board of education is the church's structural response to the need for the community to be broadly represented in educational policy decisions. This book of readings is intended to be an inservice tool for board members. Chapters concern the areas of board of education role, the organization of the Catholic…

Rational and political theories of education budgeting are critiqued using comparative field data on the management of declining resources in 10 urban school systems. A new rational theory is introduced that explains events in these cities; restructures rational theory; and incorporates political, economic, and administrative concepts. Included…

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) requires that each state education agency (SEA) establish and maintain an advisory panel for the purpose of providing policy guidance with respect to special education and related services for children with disabilities. This document is a brief summary of survey information received from 48…

This paper discusses a qualitative case study that examined faculty attempts to establish and maintain a faculty council as a means of furthering shared governance between administrators and education faculty at a college of education over a 4-year period (1996-2000). Initial experience in shared governance--faculty members participating in…

Twenty case studies of state educational decision making from 1971 to 1991 are analyzed to portray the changing nature of Minnesota's education policy system and to consider whether the often cited "structural linkage" typology remains explanatory. The reformist tradition continues in Minnesota in spite of revenue problems and societal…

This research digest reports that the field of educational policy is faced with an interrelated set of challenges for the future: producing high quality work while ensuring that paradigmatic ideas are useful for operational purposes. Scholarship in educational policy faces two kinds of institutional problems. The first is the retrenchment in the…

This digest discusses the issue of school-based management (SBM), defined as a system of administration in which the school is the primary unit of educational decision making. Responsibility for certain decisions about the budget, personnel, and the curriculum is placed at the school level rather than the district level. Several aspects of SBM are…

Factors affecting the state role in financing educational programs for special student populations are examined along with potential state policy considerations related to the provision of special services. An outline of the major problems facing state policy makers, such as federal budget cuts, teacher shortages, and the needs of gifted and…

"Confronting the New Politics of Child and Family Policy in the United States" is an 18-month project designed to help states, local governments, and the voluntary sector as they respond to the social policy debates and changes precipitated by the 104th Congress. The project's main vehicle will be a series of reports, based on a series…