Teach For America (TFA) began in 1990 as an organization purportedly interested in working towards ameliorating a national teacher shortage by sending its corps members into urban and rural schools. In the decades that followed, especially during and immediately following a nationwide onslaught of teacher layoffs instigated by the 2008 Great…

At some level, principals always have been instructional leaders--but never before has their role been more prominent. First, the accountability movement--No Child Left Behind (NCLB) in particular--thrust principals into the spotlight on academic achievement. Then budget cuts peeled away capacity at both the district and school levels, thinning…

In December 2010, the California Postsecondary Education Commission (CPEC) staff surveyed public universities in other states to learn how they have dealt with cuts in state funding. All of the institutions CPEC surveyed have increased tuition and or fees at least once in the last two fiscal years, and many project additional increases. All have…

Chicago teachers voted last week to suspend a 7-day-old strike, sending some 350,000 students back to the classroom and paving the way for the teaching force to vote on a tentative contract. But for many in the Windy City, the contract has raised another potentially tall hurdle: how the cash-strapped district will manage to pay for it. District…

A strike last week by some 29,000 teachers in Chicago pushed long-simmering tensions over deeply divisive school improvement ideas--including changes in teacher evaluation and the takeover or closure of underperforming schools--into the national spotlight. A framework for a tentative agreement emerged last Friday, and the union's house of…

The education headlines have been filled with grim news about facility closings, teacher layoffs and program cutbacks. When the economic climate is gloomy, few areas of schools and universities are spared. In areas outside the classroom, such as safety and security, the cuts may be larger and come more quickly. When money is scarce, education…

Many find it harder to enter the profession than it sounds in the recruitment literature. This article outlines how one librarian's job searching strategies after she experienced a layoff from her dream job due to budget cuts, can help others gain, or regain, a foothold in the profession. The author of this article offers many suggestions for…

Because of a tax-rate drop and problems associated with the state's new equalization plan, New Trier is facing severe cutbacks in its two high schools. (IRT)

This report examines the extent of and reasons why teaching and nonteaching professionals in the Cook County suburban public schools have been released from their responsibilities for the 1976-77 school year. The report is based on a survey of every elementary and secondary school district in suburban Cook County requesting data on dismissal…

This is an analysis of the current Education Association model collective bargaining agreement. This document is intended to provide aid and assistance to board bargaining teams and negotiators; it is not a substitute for professional assistance where such help is indicated. The board of education-oriented clauses included in the analysis indicate…

At present, there are no viable models of organizations in decline; all sociological and economic theories deal with growing, expanding organizations. However, as the statistical data from Illinois school districts indicate, declining enrollment and reduction in force are pressing problems. This statistical analysis contains data on population,…

The Illinois Task Force on Declining Enrollments, created by the State Superintendent of Education, was charged with developing recommendations to aid in solving some of the economic problems that the state and local boards face in this era of declining enrollments. This publication provides a summary of the task force's research and outlines its…

The House select committee met to hear testimony from parents, children, service providers, and researchers concerning the effects of job and income loss on families in central Illinois. The testimony of the first panel consisted of personal narratives. A high school student whose parents may move the family in order to find better paying jobs…

The Illinois Task Force on Declining Enrollments was formed in response to the need for more information about the process of planning and management in the public school system in a period of declining enrollment. The task force had five major purposes: to stimulate greater awareness of the problems and opportunities associated with declining…

Collective bargaining agreements of 22 selected Illinois two-year colleges are presented, representing contracts in effect in 1988. Contracts for the following colleges are included: Belleville Area College, Black Hawk College, Carl Sandburg College, College of Lake County, Cook County College, Highland Community College, Illinois Central College,…