This report presents annual data on the amount of financial assistance available to help students pay for postsecondary education. Seven tables and seven charts provide a variety of statistics on student aid, family income, and college costs for the period 1987-88 through 1996-97, including aid awarded to postsecondary students in current dollars;…

This final report of the Nebraska Special Education Accountability Commission presents recommendations for reforming the state's special education system. The tasks of the commission were to develop recommendations for a new funding system for special education which would be identification and placement neutral, to encourage preventive services,…

This report is part of South Carolina's effort to move toward "100 percent performance funding" for the state's public colleges and universities and results from a task force's investigation of ways to assess critical thinking. The following eight major findings are reported: (1) policy makers must determine priorities; (2) critical…

This Library Services and Technology Act Five Year Plan was prepared in compliance with Section 224 State Plans of the Library Services and Technology Act (Public Law 104-208). The goal of this plan is to assist South Carolina libraries in providing a high level of information services to all South Carolinians, regardless of the type of library…

Given recent changes to child welfare financing brought about by the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, there is a need to track spending for child welfare services. This report documents states' total child welfare spending from federal, state, and local sources in state fiscal year (SFY) 1998; changes in…

This journal issue, which is part of a series of wide-ranging debates on major educational topics in Australia, examines three major points connected to school resourcing. First is the shift of emphasis in the discourse on resources from inputs to outcomes. Second is the extent to which schools ought to be self-managed and the possible conflict…

This document describes customized, employer-specific training programs for incumbent workers and new hires operated in 45 states. Unlike federal programs, state programs are economic tools to attract and retain jobs; are employer-, not worker-centered; have few requirements for targeting individuals; and train incumbent workers for new jobs or…

As states move toward higher expectations for student learning and stringent consequences for results, many school districts are demanding "reciprocity"--a level of resources and support they believe is needed to do the job. These demands are forcing policymakers to struggle with a difficult question: What kind and amount of resources does it take…

Nebraska's small schools have been shortchanged by recently enacted school finance policies. LB 1114, which limited property tax levy rates, and LB 806, which changed the state aid distribution formula, were first implemented for the 1998-99 school year. These measures were intended to force cuts in school expenditures, especially among smaller,…

The challenge facing school finance is how to harness the school-finance system to the fundamental purpose of education: to improve learning for all students. The challenge is posed by political demands for better school performance and accountability, and by court rulings that tie school funding to standards of adequacy. This paper examines four…

This study explored the impact of mandatory work requirements on welfare-reliant mothers struggling to pursue postsecondary education and the overwhelming difficulties created by rigid and punitive policies at both the federal and state levels. The study documented and analyzed the policies and practices of the Family Independence Agency and Work…

The objective of this biennial enrollment audit is to determine that Texas' community and technical colleges are in compliance with the Coordinating Board rules and regulations, the general provisions of the General Appropriations Act, and the provisions of the Texas Education Code for the purpose of receiving state appropriations. Compliance is…

This document presents recommendations to the state legislaturefor a unified higher education budget for the state of Alabama for fiscal year 2000-01. The first section of the report provides a summary of the budget recommendations, which increase higher education appropriations by 7.53 percent to approximately $860 million. This funding level…

This report addresses the future financing of higher education, focusing primarily on the states and presenting state-by-state data on important trends. It assesses the outlook for state finances, and, in the context of the ongoing needs of other major state services, for state support of higher education. In examining the forecast of state and…

This monograph offers reflections on the role of private higher education in American society. Chapter 1, "Scope and Diversity of Private Higher Education," defines private higher education and notes that private institutions run the gamut from liberal arts colleges to comprehensive colleges and universities, to specialized institutions, two-year…