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)

As a guide for those concerned with presenting the financial needs of the schools to the voting public, general research findings in the art of campaigning for school funds are summarized. Techniques, tools, and practices that have been used with success are reported, as well as the importance of understanding the attitudes of voters toward school…

A Michigan school district asked local trade specialists to identify school building problems and estimate repair costs. A citizens' committee reviewed the recommendations and the community approved a bond issue to finance the school improvements. (MLF)

A rural Wisconsin school district passed a $5.5 million referendum package on the first try. Credit is given to a 20-minute video edited by a volunteer school-board member. The amateurish, homemade effort did not seem to hurt the video's effectiveness. An address is given to obtain a copy of the video. (MLF)

After a tentative school budget is formulated it is then shared with the community via public hearings, with the ultimate objective of the public hearings to obtain voter approval on election day. (Author/MLF)

This booklet reports the results of a study of bond elections that were held in Iowa from 1960 to 1973. The study sought to determine those factors that tended to help bond elections succeed and those that tended to cause failure. The report discusses the value of specific tactics and identifies some helpful factors such as the best months of the…

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…

The principal must play a key role in any successful school community information campaign. Tips are provided for running an election information campaign. (Author/MLF)

A survey instrument containing 46 socioeconomic and attitudinal items was administered to a sample of 452 registered voters in the Columbia (Missouri) School District. Three past financial elections and two hypothetical future financial elections were chosen in order to describe and analyze the relationships between socioeconomic and attitudinal…

School budget problems are discussed in 13 chapters, and solutions are suggested. Case studies present successful experiences with various problems while brief subsections summarize recommended actions. The first two chapters note that budget problems are worsening and trace the causes to tax revolts, state involvement in education, and the…

The research reported here addresses the impact of school district consolidation on constituent support of educational expenditures. It is hypothesized that, regardless of the success of consolidation in satisfying its stated objective of providing a qualitatively improved education more efficiently, the loss of local control will, under certain…

BASED ON A NATIONAL RANDOM PROBABILITY SAMPLE OF 180 SCHOOL DISTRICTS WITH 150 OR MORE PUPILS, DRAWN BY THE BUREAU OF THE CENSUS, FOUR CRITERION VARIABLES WERE DEFINED AS INDICES OF SCHOOL-COMMUNITY RELATIONS--(1) UNDERSTANDING, THE DEGREE TO WHICH INFORMED OBSERVERS SIMILARLY PERCEIVE SCHOOL-COMMUNITY RELATIONSHIPS, (2) QUIESCENCE, THE DEGREE TO…

FROM AN ANALYSIS OF OVER 2,000 RECONSTRUCTED CONVERSATIONS HELD BY 50 ADULTS IN EACH OF FIVE SCHOOL DISTRICTS, QUESTIONNAIRE RESPONSE DATA WERE OBTAINED TO MEASURE FLOWS OF INFORMATION AND INFLUENCE FROM THE SCHOOL TO THE COMMUNITY FOR OBTAINING PUBLIC SUPPORT. THE STUDY ATTEMPTED TO DESCRIBE (1) PERSONS WHO TALK ABOUT SCHOOLS, (2) THE KINDS OF…