Results of a study of voter behavior in three actual and two hypothetical school budget and bond elections in Missouri's Columbia Public School District suggest that voters can be effectively classified so that voting behavior can be predicted. Over 450 registered voters responded to a mailed questionnaire featuring 46 items that measured…

The Birmingham (Alabama) school district regressed from a model system in 1926 to a poorly equipped, underfunded one in 1975. In that year, however, in spite of recession and joblessness, the citizens voted a $3 million tax increase for schools. The success of the election may be traced to several factors. Citizens were concerned about the…

After years of struggling with increasing student enrollments, the Elk Grove Unified School District (Sacramento County, California) conducted two $70 million bond elections to supplement State funding for new schools, improve existing schools, and provide transportation and student support facilities. The 1986 election failed with 64.8 percent…

This research addressed the contemporary problem of declining support for school funding requests. The study examined current factors and factors over time (1969-77) that underlie school tax balloting. Data were collected from four previously studied districts and statistically analyzed. Voters' attitudes toward school community relations,…

Following the failure of several school levies, the Cincinnati Public School System placed a $9.83 million levy on the ballot in 1991 which passed in spite of tremendous odds against it. The Cincinnati tax levy campaign was successful largely because it adapted to the unique nature of ballot issue campaigns. First, it provided proactive leadership…

This study attempted to determine the community power-dynamics affecting operational levies in six Ohio school districts. Three of the levies that were studied passed and three failed. Thirty selected participants were given a focused interview and their reactions were tape recorded and analyzed. Several findings emerged. In the districts that…

This study examines the responses of the residents of one suburban school district to a mail survey regarding the community's public schools in a period of rising school taxes and declining school enrollment. Specifically addressing the idea that school districts are better viewed as several communities rather than one, the study attempts to…

This paper presents a case study of a rural community exhibiting a dramatic turnaround in community support for a new school bond issue. Demographic change was partly responsible for the change in community attitudes, with two waves of immigration altering the long-term conservative orientation of this community. After a series of failed…

Documents and data prepared by Lansing, Michigan, planners in order to influence decision-makers are highlighted in this discussion of a 5-month millage election project. Financial planners involved stated that data collected and disseminated for a budget decision must be understandable to a nontechnical audience, credible, timely, and accepted as…

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…