The Fuentes case demonstrated how the community's rights could be subverted by a purposeful faction; the Canarsie case showed how unchecked local control could damage children's rights. Successful decentralization requires the central board to assert its authority to prevent the arbitrary exercise of local power. (EH)

Highlights of events pertaining to one of the pivotal issues in American education today: Who should control the schools? (Author/MLF)

Answers some hard questions, such as: Does real community control diminish the professional? Whose fault is it when community involvement fails? (Author)

This report reveals the results of studies made of three groups actively seeking community participation in school affairs in a city noted for its conservative school system. The study utilized participant observation supplemented by interviews and document analysis. Each group had only 15-30 active members and no broad base in the community. All…

Discusses resource reallocation, community control, and tuition vouchers, and how each affects the role of the state, the community, and the family in the education process. (SP)

Identifies key ideas in the new plans for urban community control of schools that have already played a role in the controversies of the earlier era of progressive education. Suggests that those ideas, when combined with local and decentralized control of school organization, produce new dilemmas for professional educators in the present era.…

Noting that a historical example of local control is valuable in assessing the results of greater community involvement in school affairs, this article focuses on the development of the decentralized Pittsburgh school system, which in the early 1900's was composed of 38 sub-district boards, each possessing authority to levy taxes and to appoint…

Examines some evidence about public understanding of education policy, compares it to similar understandings of other public policy fields, and discusses some of the steps that may be taken to deal with the prevailing levels of understanding. (Author)

This document is based upon Charles A. Ratliff's perspective on California community college governance. It was originally published in the journal, "Insight Into Student Services" in May 2003. Mr. Ratliff discusses the historical emergence of the California community college as a system and the major external pressures that have been…

This book is divided into four chapters. The first examines the concepts and issues related to understanding social systems and how the schools can be viewed as a social system. The differences between centralization and decentralization, as well as systems-analysis and management-control approaches are also explored. In the next chapter, we are…

This study examined a school district before and after its school board changed from appointed status to elected status to determine if there were significant differences in the board's handling of constituent demands. School board minutes were examined and demands were analyzed for a six-month period under the appointed school board, then…

In this interview, Albert Shanker, president of the United Federation of Teachers of New York City, executive vice president of the American Federation of Teachers, and vice president of the AFL/CIO, discussed such topics as the following: his participation in a meeting of labor leaders with President Ford on September 11; the potential influence…

This paper examines whether suburban communities can provide any useful conceptual tools for the examination of the prospects for community control in cities. Several propositions are advanced: First it is argued that the relevance of suburban community control to the poor in the cities is not diminished by the finding that those of high social…

This book is an introduction and guide to school-based management, a decentralized form of organization in which decisions that have traditionally been made by a superintendent or school board are made by the local school. Chapter 1 provides an overview of decision-making in public school systems starting with a brief history of the trend toward…

Many educators react defensively to demands for student assessment, accountability, and so forth. Rather than being defensive, we must turn these challenges to our advantage. If I am responsible in my work, then I ought to also be accountable for my work. We must describe what schools are expected to accomplish and show publicly whether these…