Identified voter attitudes directly affecting voter behavior in fiscal elections, including attitudes about community involvement in policy-making, school community relations, school discipline and the teaching of democracy, present level of spending, and present level of taxes. Perceptions of school quality and social conditions have little…

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…

The recent marked increase in voter-taxpayer rejection of school budget and school bond issues at polls across the United States -- a phenomenon popularly called the "taxpayers' revolt" -- has given rise to the widespread claim that public school finance is in a state of crisis. This paper develops a simplified model of a political…

This document is intended to benefit the many individual school districts who, inspired by the Gallup polls, are now conducting their own surveys. The publication reviews the extensive volume of literature on polling and survey research methods and outlines the main steps to be taken in conducting a survey. Some of the areas covered are the…

Citizens need to understand and control how their money is used in local public schools. District publications and records probably contain the answers to many of the questions concerning local education spending. This booklet was designed to unravel the mysteries surrounding budget proposals and increased spending. Accordingly, part 1 explains…

After closing a high school in 1983, the Scottsdale, Arizona, Unified School District needed to regain community confidence and support. Assisted by the dean of the Arizona State University College of Education, the school board agreed on four goals: (1) an instructional program that ensures all students will master competencies required for…

This paper, the third based on a 4-year sociological field study of school-community relations in a factional suburb, analyzes conflict generated by the discrepancy between the perceived and actual norms governing the school board-community relationship. A 3-year effort to develop board responsiveness followed a 7-year period of professional…

This report is a summary of the research conducted in Phase 1 of the Schools and Neighborhoods Research Study. The program's objectives, each of which represents a separate study, are to identify the perceptions and expectations of neighborhood residents and businesses with respect to the school, to identify the services provided by the…

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…

This chapter reviews 1982 cases related to school property. Cases involving citizen efforts to overturn school board decisions to close schools dominate the property chapter, and courts continue to uphold school board authority to close schools, transfer students, and sell or lease the buildings. Ten cases involving detachment and attachment of…

This publication is concerned with the number of pupils, teachers, and schools in California and the expenditures of public funds to educate the 4.4 million children attending schools in the state. The data are presented in the form of tables. The first section concerns school district type, average daily attendance, and participation and costs of…

Seventeen research studies, position statements, and statistical compilations published between 1966 and 1969 are reviewed. These documents deal with such issues as (1) the effects of financial effort and property assessment practice on educational quality, (2) the role of State aid in equalizing financial resources, (3) the crisis in financing…

The rural school district examined in this case study is the smallest of the five covered in this series, which is published in conjuction with a planning manual on declining enrollment. The principal issue in this Minnesota district is simply survival. Its initially small enrollment has shrunk even further, and enrollment projections indicate…

Describes the referendum campaign that resulted in voter approval of a $980 million bond issue, part of a $1.5 billion building project, for the Dade County, Florida, Public Schools. (MLF)

This report presents data comparing budgets, levies, and enrollments of small, rural schools (Class "C") in Montana for fiscal year 1994-95. The average enrollment of 56 elementary schools was 136 students; the average enrollment of 56 high schools was 70 students. The average total enrollment of Class "C" schools was 190…