This article investigates budget monitoring and control in township schools in South Africa. The enactment of the Schools Act 1996 revolutionized school financial management in South Africa, making it part of the drive for democratic school governance. School governing bodies had to be established, whose responsibility it became to manage finances…

Colleges and universities, like corporations and other nonprofit organizations, are subject to periodic fluctuations in the economy and public support. Thus, the question is not whether they will confront financial problems but rather when and how. This article describes how institutions and boards can detect budgets in crisis, provides principles…

Simultaneous pressures to reduce costs and increase student achievement have never been greater than they are today. Not only is cost-cutting essential in this era of tightened resources, argue Hess and Osberg, but eliminating inefficient spending is critical for freeing up resources to drive school reform. This provocative book brings together a…

Proposes an alternative to resource-dependent approaches to strategic behavior, in which actors seek cooptive relations to alleviate constraint. An actor can gain (two-step) leverage by building a cooptive relationship with a player that controls a limiting party's behavior. Data on dependence relations, political alliances, and confidential…

An Arizona district funded staff salary raises by developing some workable budget-reduction strategies. The process emphasized garnering board and community support and collaborating with employee groups. A list of 67 ideas for generating revenues or reallocating program dollars represented $9 million in savings. A condensed list saving $3 million…

Illinois currently permits districts to finance repairs and construction related to children's health, life, or safety through a modest "backdoor" referendum rate tied to property values. These repairs are ameliorative but not preventative. This article recommends a strategic capital preservation plan that sets aside funds for use in…

Strategies for reallocation of resources that were used by five public colleges are discussed. Attention is directed to the efforts of institutions that are under severe political, economic, and time pressure. At each of the following schools that were visited, meetings were held with key administrators, faculty members, and students: the…

The strategy of deep selective budget cuts for institutions is not always the soundest policy, since the choice between these and across-the-board cuts is an oversimplification. The literature on rescission shows no instance in which a university administration has cut the same percentage across-the-board. (MLW)

Presents a basis for allocating resources between the goals of higher education: instruction, organized research and public service using cost-utility analysis. (PG)

Identifies possible sources of supplemental income to finance Nigerian universities, including households and commercial and industrial firms. A consumption tax imposed on certain goods and services would generate needed funds. Also, because firms employ university graduates to earn higher profits, their turnover income should be taxed to support…

Erie County Community College (New York) has developed a zero-based program budgeting system to meet current fiscal problems and diminished resources. The system allocates resources on the basis of program effectiveness and market potential. (LH)

By terminating 26 degree programs, 3 departments, and 3 schools and colleges, the State University of New York at Albany generated a pool of resource for reallocation to programs with greater need and priority. The difficulties of accomplishing this and the lessons for other campuses are described. (Author/MLW)