School finance and school consolidation concepts have been researched to great lengths in previous studies on school finance and increasing spending efficiency. This quantitative research study seeks to identify variables in school district finance while evaluating school consolidation to better evaluate potential financial efficiencies at the…

Purpose: Americans frequently turn to online social networking sites (OSNs) as a source of news and information. Yet the role of OSNs in knowledge formation about local public schools remains underexamined. This study explores how public knowledge about local schools is constructed on Facebook. Research Methods/Approach: This ethnographic case…

Open enrollment in public schools is a form of school choice that allows students to attend schools other than the one assigned to them by their school district. Though often less visible than policies such as charter schools, vouchers, and education savings accounts, K-12 open enrollment is rising in popularity across the nation, and 73 percent…

Local districts can benefit from a collaborative process for refreshing their master schedules to increase teacher planning time. Alongside national models for organizing the school day, local districts must account for regional factors such as resources, historical practices, community expectations, changing state requirements, negotiated…

Although charter schools are frequently afforded flexibility from many state laws that govern traditional public schools, a growing number of charter school teachers have now unionized and introduced collective bargaining to the charter sector. Using data from a detailed content analysis of teacher CBAs from California, we compare the…

There is a call to action to close disparities and address inequalities throughout various institutions across the United States. There is a growing amount of research on the topic of education in relation to how schools can better serve as critical societal change agencies. This qualitative study serves to answer questions on the experiences and…

The data presented in this report provide facts about the extent to which local, state, and national governments commit resources to public education. As one might expect in a nation as diverse as the United States--with respect to economics, geography, and politics--the level of commitment to education varies on a state-by-state basis. Thus, NEA…

This quantitative study examined important, selected election factors within and outside of school district control for passing public school bond elections in Oklahoma. The study used publicly available archival data to analyze 524 public school bond elections held in Oklahoma from FY19 through FY22. Additionally, the study used Bowers and Lee's…

State and local government decisions about how school funding is raised and allocated have profound impacts on American public education, and in recent years, experts have documented large increases in one type of spending in particular: public pensions. Because most data on school district pension expenditures are at the state level, it has so…

A school district's need to satisfy the school community's expectations for current, accurate information and manage a social media presence has increased the necessity for superintendents to employ public relations professionals. As such, these professionals are a recent addition to many school districts' administrative teams. However, few…

This quantitative ex post facto study is a modified replication of research conducted in 1991 by Dr. Michael Ough designed to understand the relationship between selected variables and the outcome of school bond elections held in Nebraska between September 1, 2011, and August 31, 2021. The dependent variable for the study was if a Nebraska public…

Educators and policymakers across the country have been raising alarms about a growing teacher shortage. In Michigan, teacher shortages were so severe in the 2018-19 school year that 2,500 classrooms were staffed by long-term substitutes --nearly ten times the number placed in classrooms five years prior. The COVID-19 pandemic has raised even…

Student absenteeism is a persistent concern in K-12 education. Not only are the negative academic and social consequences of excessive absenteeism well documented, but states, districts, and schools are increasingly being held accountable for student attendance. As research indicates that disruptions in students' learning contexts may exacerbate…

Wisconsin voters approved a record number of referenda in 2024 to increase property taxes to fund their local schools, and nearly set a record for the most referenda to fund municipalities or counties. However, the approval rate for school ballot questions continued a downward trend. These trends raise questions about both the adequacy of current…

This dissertation examines the perceptions of parents who open enroll their children in an alternative public school by diving into the lived experiences of these individuals. The research is grounded in three theoretical frameworks: Parent Involvement Theory (McCurdy and Daro, 2001), Rational Choice Theory (Adler et al., 2014), and Market Theory…