While the U.S. population has become increasingly diverse, college faculty may not reflect those same levels of diversity. Little is known at the national level about the relationship between faculty diversity and student outcomes. Separately, faculty have reported experiencing discrimination at colleges. GAO was asked to review faculty diversity…

The William M. (Mac) Thornberry National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 included a provision for the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) to report on equal opportunity claims, climate surveys, and programs to address climate issues at the military service academies. Specifically, this report addresses: (1) the extent to which…

Schools generate and maintain numerous student records, including grades, standardized test scores, disciplinary accounts, contact information, mental health records, and more. The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), which applies to educational agencies and institutions that receive certain types of financial assistance from the…

The Public Safety Officers' Benefits (PSOB) program provides cash benefits to federal, state, and local law enforcement officers; firefighters; employees of emergency management agencies; and members of emergency medical services agencies who are killed or permanently and totally disabled as the result of personal injuries sustained in the line of…

The Public Safety Officers' Benefits (PSOB) program provides cash benefits to federal, state, and local law enforcement officers; firefighters; employees of emergency management agencies; and members of emergency medical services agencies who are killed or permanently and totally disabled as the result of personal injuries sustained in the line of…

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is a statute that authorizes grant programs that support special education services. Under the IDEA, a series of conditions are attached to the receipt of grant funds. These conditions aim to provide certain educational and procedural guarantees for students with disabilities and their…

The Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is the main federal statute governing special education for children from birth through age 21. IDEA protects the rights of children with disabilities to a free appropriate public education (FAPE). It also supplements state and local funding to pay for some of the additional or excess costs of…

Developing positive school climates and improving school discipline policies and practices are critical steps to raising academic achievement and supporting student success. However, there is no single formula for doing so. Rather, the growing body of research and best practices in the field should inform locally developed approaches to improving…

Authorizers must decide whether a proposed school should be allowed to open and whether it should be required to close. To enable authorizers to serve as quality gatekeepers for the sector, state policy must give authorizers clear power to deny low-quality charter school applications and to close charter schools that fail to meet expectations. At…

A recent Supreme Court decision on a First Amendment case involving a teacher in Texas illustrates how teachers' and other public employees' rights to freedom of speech face serious erosion. The problem is deciding whether grievances fall into the protected area of "public concern" or the unprotected area of a "purely private…

Grievance procedures must be fast and fair to satisfy everyone and to disrupt the normal workflow as little as possible. The following factors help make for effective procedures: (1) binding arbitration, because it is orderly and unbiased; (2) contributions to contract language by the contract administrators; (3) absolute honesty about contract…

The Ombudsman for Alberta investigated five allegations raised by the Lubicon Lake Indian Band: (1) that provincial officials had deliberately allowed fires in the Band's traditional area to rage unchecked; (2) that provincial and oil company workers had been instructed to bulldoze deliberately Indian traplines and to scare game out of the area by…

School boards should not tolerate having any members subjecting teachers--either individually or as a profession--to harsh criticism and extremely negative statements. Teacher bashing can cause employee relations to decline, and teachers' negative attitudes to permeate the schools. Ultimately, students are the losers. (MLF)

The Title IX/Sex Equity training model is designed to assist education personnel and interested citizens in the implementation of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 and the attainment of sex equity in education. This workbook, to be used in conjunction with the trainer manual, provides l5 worksheets for use by participants in a 3 1/2 to…

Arbitration is an effective way to resolve disagreements between school systems and their employee unions. A practicing arbitrator offers some suggestions that encourage the best use of the arbitration process. (MLF)