Questions who has control over academic eligibility for students aspiring to participate in high school sports. Local school boards now have limited control beyond raising standards set by state policies. A recent study showed that academic eligibility was state-regulated in 47 states. Legal trends are also discussed. Includes 41 references. (MLH)

Basic tenets of citizen control of education at state and local levels are well established historically and remain intact after three centuries of U.S. educational experience. This paper advocates substantial change in the structure and management of local governments. Too many change proposals are cosmetic. Kentucky and Memphis-Shelby County are…

Discusses four categories of problems getting the greatest attention among those interested in reforming school finance: fiscal neutrality, cost differentials, individual needs, and municipal overburden. (Author/DN)

Florida's new school finance formula is characterized by a three mills power equalization scheme on top of a Strayer-Haig foundation plan. Finance legislation is predicated on the intent to equalize educational opportunity while increasing the authority and responsibility of districts for deciding matters of instructional organization and method.…

The philosophy of Nebraska's School-based, Teacher-led Assessment and Reporting System (STARS) is based on the premise that the purpose of assessment is to drive curriculum and instruction to produce student academic achievement gain. It is a locally driven system designed from the classroom up, which recognizes that improved student achievement…

Affirming the basic value of the emphasis in much recent literature on the need for increased school effectiveness, the author argues that more attention should be given to the problem of "school climate" and to a resolution of the tension between state-mandated uniformity and school-level autonomy. (JBM)