Education savings accounts (ESAs) are education funding mechanisms that allow for families to receive a deposit of public funds to a government-authorized savings account. Using student-level longitudinal data, this paper examines how families participating in the Florida Gardiner Scholarship Program use education savings account funds. Results…

For many school districts, planning, developing, and implementing a technology infrastructure has become very expensive, time-consuming, and knowledge-intensive. Following Hartford, Connecticut's example, districts should expand cooperative purchasing, try outsourcing, develop vendor partnerships, and use regional educational service centers. (MLH)

To address the problem of outdated vendor catalogs, Edmonton (Alberta) Public Schools created a view-only online shopping mall that evolved into an electronic shopping program. Buyers can use credit cards for some transactions and cost coding for others. They can also sell unwanted items online. (MLH)

Sharon (Massachusetts) Public Schools developed an alternative procurement process for school food services that complies with state public bidding laws while evading "low-bid" constraints. The new process features evaluative criteria covering nutrition education, community outreach, management expertise, site visits, and price…

Technological advancements are helping school business officials at the Fountain Valley (California) School District effectively manage district assets, thanks to developments in budget and finance software, videoconferencing, online purchasing and fund raising, inventory bar codes and portable scanners, paperless forms and applications, writable…

The current status and apparent trends of local area networks (LANs) in school districts are explored in this short report. Results of a 1987-88 Quality Education Data survey are cited, indicating that 64% of 173 of the largest school districts in the country were already networking and 36% intended to be networking by 1990. The advantages of…

In 1995-96, the Edmonton (Alberta) Public Schools' enterprising superintendent allocated most of the district's central-services funds (about $20 million) to schools. Schools may purchase services and products from the district or outside vendors and commit any amount on building-level program expenditures. Central cost-recovery strategies are…

Designed to provide information on educational computing to elementary and secondary school educators, particularly those in South Australia, this publication is produced once each term. The Term 1 issue includes the following articles: a description of Information Technology Month (July 1984) activities in South Australia; "Software Piracy…

To help California school board members make informed decisions about computers, this handbook offers a computer primer with examples of outstanding computer curriculum programs. Chapter 1 introduces basic computer terminology. Chapter 2 outlines issues to consider in computer acquisition and the initial implementation of computer curricula. The…

This survey compares compulsory consumer education in Norway with similar programs in the United States. After a short introduction, section two describes Norway and its public education system. Section three examines the role of the Norwegian Ministry of Consumer Affairs and Governmental Administration and describes compulsory consumer education…

The second in a series on educational computing for teachers and administrators, this booklet offers a checklist for use in making decisions about program development, 11 case studies illustrating how teachers in Washington state have initiated programs, and a collection of articles on various aspects of educational computing programs. The…

Farm to school (FTS) programs have been getting more and more attention these days. FTS programs aim to increase the supply of fresh, locally grown farm products served for meals and snacks in K-12 school environments, and tend to incorporate educational and experiential components designed to increase students' understanding of and engagement…