The theory of "voter crosspressure" focuses on the idea that voters have predispositions and try to avoid information (pressure) that would cause them to vote against their predisposition. If a voter is unsuccessful in avoiding that information, he or she will vote against his or her predisposition. (Author/IRT)

The vote-by-mail procedure is presently being tried in Oregon. Supporters claim it is good for democracy because it increases the number of persons involved in decision making. Opponents say it encourages participation by people who know little or nothing about issues on the ballot. (MLF)

Forecasts the effects of electronic voting on voting behavior and on campaign strategy in school finance elections, inferring these from Oregon's vote-by-mail experiments and from direct-mail campaigning and fundraising. Relates computerization to community education's role in raising school support. (MCG)

To convince voters to approve a school tax increase, school board members need to do the following: (1) show a fiscally tight and well-organized school district; (2) show the public that you care; (3) show a sense of personal and board conviction; (4) explain how decisions have been reached; and (5) educate the public about school issues. (MLF)

The little town of Benson, Vermont, set a national record by voting down its proposed school budget 12 times. This paper reviews the facts leading up to the situation, providing the Benson residents' point of view, which was that they did not regard the system as their own and they felt that taxpayers' money was being wasted by the system. (SM)

The problems, challenges, and opportunities of rural education are the focus of the fourteen speeches and nine workshops presented at the second annual conference on rural education, held February 1-2, 1979, in Des Moines, Iowa. Conference proceedings are presented in this newsletter in transcript or summary form. Speeches cover the topics of…