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…

Despite its small size, Lebanon has had its fair share of nationwide turbulences that further instigated conflict and instability among the Lebanese population. The crises have weighed heavily on the educational system in Lebanon and has impeded its operations on many fronts. However, educational leaders have attempted to adopt transformative…

This is a comprehensive review of literature related to K-12 economics curriculum spanning 20 years, from 1998-2018. The search for literature revealed 18 articles and book chapters in peer-reviewed journals and volumes related to social studies and economics education. The study revealed several trends and issues related to K-12 economics…

The spring 2018 teacher strikes or walkouts in West Virginia, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Colorado, Arizona, and North Carolina brought heightened attention to teacher compensation. Similar walk-outs, sick-outs, or strikes occurred early 2019 in Denver, Los Angeles, and Oakland, as well as West Virginia and Kentucky. In all of these actions, teachers were…

This article discusses the provision of education in Zimbabwe between 2000 and 2008 which occurred in the midst of a crisis. It is based on the case study of Harare and data collected from primary and secondary sources. It argues that the government's capacity to ensure the provision of education was crippled by the economic meltdown generated by…

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…

Many people view the coming of January 1 each year as an opportunity for a new beginning. The conditions that are facing school and university administrators and educators make it difficult to approach the coming year with optimism. The effects of the recession that crippled state and local budgets have yet to ease, and schools and universities…

Around the mid-2000s a crisis discourse emerged in educational policy-making in the EU and in Sweden. Using the EU and Sweden as empirical references, this article explores how this crisis discourse has been and is employed by politicians and NGOs. Discourse Institutionalism is used as an overall theoretical framework focusing on how the crisis…

Key legislative objectives for the US Federal educational policy over the past several decades relied heavily on quasi-market strategies (such as school rating, school closure, the contracting out of schools) as central levers in "reforming" public schools. Using financial data on 11 national for-profit firms contracting with schools and…

The Los Angeles Unified School District stands to receive an estimated $566 million in extra Title I and special education money--plus an undetermined amount of state stabilization money--from the federal stimulus package. This article reports that officials in hard-hit states like California are breathing a little easier now that they can use…

As Congress began debate last week over the size and scope of more than $120 billion in proposed emergency education aid, state leaders were anxiously awaiting the details so they could make specific plans to spend the economic-stimulus money. Governors, state legislators, and state schools chiefs have yet to learn what rules Congress will attach…

House Democrats recently unveiled draft legislation for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. Widely touted as an economic stimulus package, the $825 billion draft legislation included as much as $142 billion for education. This includes the creation of a $79 billion State Fiscal Stabilization Fund to assist state governments in…

District of Columbia School Superintendent Franklin L. Smith faces overwhelming challenges, including student shootings, dilapidated facilities, undersupplied classrooms, and low student achievement. Franklin's biggest problem is a city budget crisis stemming from overspending, poor management, and bureaucratic incompetencies. Smith has pared his…

Two surveys of educators examined the status of gifted programs in Connecticut during 1989 to 1991. The 1991 results indicate that increasing numbers of programs for the gifted are experiencing jeopardy resulting from the state's fiscal crisis. The number of program eliminations increased by 63% and program reductions rose by 11%. (Author/JDD)

Examines three school districts [Richmond Unified School District (California), Coachella Valley Unified School District (California), and White Pine County School District (Nevada)] that faced financial disaster and then worked their way back to solvency. All three overspent revenues in the general fund, had unrealistic budgets, and lacked…