Under the current decentralization system in China, individual characteristics of the local political elites and collective characteristics of the standing committees of the local party have an impact on local education fiscal policy. Yet published research on the similarities and differences between the collective influence of the Standing…

This paper examines the recent noticeable rise in parents and carers in England, deciding to home school their children. This rise has been attributed to schools advising parents with 'difficult' children, those with special educational needs or behavioural problems, that they have a choice; home educate or their child will be permanently…

Local literacy could be defined as a process of gaining skills for the recognition of local assets, historical sites, places and literary works, which are important for countries in a national and spiritual sense (historical, cultural, touristic, economic, etc.) in the areas where citizens live, being aware of the basic characteristics of the…

The aim of the article is to analyse the dual role of Estonian local governments and their associations -- as providers of educational services and as customers of educational services. This is primarily a qualitative case study, which employs comparative and historical methods. Legislation, case law and relevant scientific literature, as well as…

This paper is designed to explore Jeonju City's strategies to build a successful lifelong learning city by analyzing the practices for the Lifelong Learning City Movement (LLCM) and then draw the limitations and needed tasks for building a Lifelong Learning City at the local government level. As Cunningham (1993) pointed out, we found some gaps…

This paper, which was given as the Dudley Allen Sargent lecture at the 2012 conference of the National Association for Kinesiology and Physical Education in Higher Education, discusses the politics of physical education. It examines how both national politics and local/campus politics affect the discipline. Drawing from the history of national…

What do citizens of the United States and Germany think about their schools and school policies? This paper offers the first broad comparison of public thinking on education in the two countries. We carried out opinion surveys of representative samples of the German and American adult populations in 2014 that included experiments in which we…

North Carolina Family Impact Seminars (NCFIS) include annual seminars, briefing reports and follow-up activities designed specifically for state policymakers, including legislators and legislative staff, the governor and executive branch staff, and state agency representatives. The Center for Child and Family Policy at Duke University convenes the…

As the recent outbreak of the H1N1 (swine flu) virus underscores, an influenza pandemic remains a real threat to our nation and to the world. Over the past 3 years, the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) has conducted a body of work to help the nation better prepare for a possible pandemic. In a February 2009 report, GAO synthesized the…

This paper is about the funding status of teachers' retirement pension schemes. Its goal is to relate the accounting for the funding of these pension obligations to the endemic, systematic, and fundamentally fraudulent system of accounting our country uses to assess the financial positions of federal, state, and local government as well as many…

This paper explores legal issues that have arisen since the overruling of Monroe v. Pape, a case holding that municipalities were not persons and therefore immune from suit. Monell v. Department of Social Services of City of New York ruled that local governmental bodies, including officials in their official capacities, can be sued directly for…

Assessment and evaluation can be important tools in improving the effectiveness and quality of programs, especially criminal justice programs, if they are integrated into the plans and designs of strategies instead of being added later. An evaluation systems approach to program development is needed to ensure that effectiveness and efficiency are…

The value of scientific research can only be measured by the resulting benefits to society. Federal policymakers must ensure that funding for research and development is adequate and that research results are applied to the serious problems facing state and local governments. (SK)

This speech advocates substantial change in the structure and management of local governments and school districts. The discussion focuses on a reconstitution of mission, philosophy, broad goals, and features of local school governance and management. The speaker asserts that the focus of local government around the nation should individually and…

Serving about 1,300 youths and including three time options and approximately 40 programs, school-age child care works in Fairfax County, Virginia. A contract between the county government and the school board clearly states each party's roles and responsibilities. The county assumes responsibility for all administrative and staffing functions,…