This paper presents the results of thirty-seven interviews of senior library leaders at American Association of University (AAU) institutions conducted in Spring 2023. The author replicated a 2016 study from "portal," revealing an increased focus on strategic plan-based decision-making along with new priorities of open scholarship and…

Catalyst: Another newspaper article ("Ranks of School Librarians Dwindle in HISD, Statewide" in the October 7, 2013, "Houston Chronicle") detailing another decision by a Houston Independent School District (HISD) campus principal to eliminate the librarian (Mellon 2013). In response to this article, Dorcas Hand, an experienced…

In this study, 79 local school district leaders from the state of Texas were contacted and asked for their input relating to strategic practices used during an economic downturn. Findings describe how the recent funding cuts affected the varied districts; how the districts fared in comparison with similar districts in the area; steps the district…

We outline structures of whiteness and analyze how forms of dominance embedded and enacted in higher education structures have been made salient, through a self-reflexive account of the authors' anti-cuts organizing. The authors implicate themselves, reflexively incorporating positions as a white, female, working class-raised doctoral student and…

Purpose: The global age is characterized by demographic changes that challenge the feasibility of democratic states' redistribution mechanisms. This paper aims to rethink the strategies commonly used by states (via their resource allocation to education) to promote social cohesiveness and competitiveness, and to suggest an alternative strategy.…

Even as they seek to quantify the impact of across-the-board federal budget cuts on K-12 programs, some of the nation's neediest school districts are bracing for tough choices. The pinch from sequestration--or "the sequester," in Washington shorthand--is expected to be particularly painful for districts that depend on the most on the federal…

Dana College (Dana.edu) was dying. A corporation was willing to buy it. However, Dana did not teach in the main, 21st century technical skills which is true of most little liberal arts colleges. Dana's demise first came in cuts for faculty in terms of benefits (Manghan, K. 1/16/2009). The entrance of the federal government was an attempt to stop a…

Education reform is not a new or foreign trend in Wisconsin. The state was a school choice pioneer and one of the first to embrace charter schools in the early 1990s. Though major reform efforts have been on the back burner in recent years, topics like value-added analysis and teacher evaluation have kept education on the front page in the Badger…

The Great Recession contributed to major budget cuts for natural resource Extension programs in the United States. Despite the potentially large cuts, their impacts and how Extension has adapted their programs have not been evaluated. We begin addressing these needs with surveys of Association of Natural Resource Extension Professionals members…

In autumn, most colleges' football fields are covered with a thick carpet of grass or artificial turf and are adorned with yard lines. But the football field at Paul Quinn College was carved up by plowing and planting. This past fall, portions of the college's gridiron were covered with sweet potatoes, watermelons, peppers, rosemary, and sugar…

This article reports on a private Massachusetts company that specializes in showing districts how to rethink the way they staff and deliver special education services. Futures Education is a private company that works with dozens of districts around the country on cutting special education costs. Futures Education may be hired simply to evaluate…

The frenetic legislative season now finished or wrapping up in many states has brought big changes to education policy, some forged through bipartisan compromise, others only after hyperpartisan battles. From teacher issues to vouchers, the 2011 state legislative season saw widespread action on education. Republican leaders who swept into office…

Higher-education analysts have predicted it: The global financial shambles will cause the closing or merger of a growing number of colleges. At the top of the endangered list are rural colleges. Included in this group is the author's own college, Sterling College, in Craftsbury Common, Vermont. Despite this prediction, the author is counting on…

Several decades of research have suggested a meaningful relationship between time and learning, where the amount of time students spend engaged in learning is strongly associated with their level of achievement. Among schools that have expanded the day and/or year, researchers have found that such a strategy can be quite effective, especially with…

Despite a nascent economic recovery, education advocates, policymakers and other leaders continue to sound concerns over U.S. higher education's long-term viability and productivity. Foremost among current worries is the financial stability of colleges and universities, particularly now that federal stimulus support has dried up. Even while…