When Mary Cullinan became president of Southern Oregon University in September, the 5,000-student public university in the foothills of the Siskiyou Mountains was in dire financial shape. A $4-million shortfall had forced university officials to dip deep into its financial reserves, draining them to perilously low levels. The path back to…

The paper discusses funding principles and policies of higher education during the recession period. The role of state appropriations for the viability of public higher education institutions is emphasized. State funding affecting institutional behaviour is another issue raised. The paper analyzes the possibility of expanding state funding for…

What does the geographic distribution of state spending look like? Are there regions of the state that receive more than their "fair share" of state funds? How is a region's "fair share" defined and calculated? This report examines the geographic distribution of state spending across nine regions: the San Francisco Bay Area,…

This article reports that with fuel prices soaring nationwide, reaching more than $4 for each gallon of gas or diesel, school districts are struggling to supplement transportation-budget shortfalls and find ways to offset the increasing costs as a new school year approaches. Now districts--most of whose buses run on diesel fuel--are scrambling to…

Congress has passed a bill that would reauthorize the Higher Education Act. Now five years overdue, the new act created many programs and requirements for colleges and universities. Given all the time and effort that went into it, do aspects of the final legislation fall short? What key measures have been left out? In this article, six policy…

The world of charter school facilities is sometimes strange. Many charter operators have had to show considerable creativity and resourcefulness in finding a place to educate their students, whether it's a former K-Mart or car dealership, a church facility, or space in an office complex. Obtaining and paying for adequate facilities are often big…

This study examines and chronicles the change in public funding for postsecondary education in Colorado from 1970 to 2010. Colorado was ranked sixth among states in per capita funding for public higher education in 1970 and declined to 48th in 2010. The study analyzed state appropriations over this time period in five broad categories of spending:…

Adult and Organizational Learning and Policy Development in Environments of Gray The purpose of this study was to describe, analyze and provide an understanding of the values that influence state legislators' decision-making as it relates to appropriations, tuition and fees, and financial aid for public postsecondary education in Idaho. The study…

In Montana, less than 3% of K-12 teachers are American Indian (Montana Office of Public Instruction, 2009). The lack of Indian teachers, which was the problem identified for this dissertation, is of great concern to educational leaders. The shortage of Native American teachers can be correlated to problems in the education of K-12 students…

If higher education is a right, and distance education is the avenue for making higher education universally available, then who shall pay? This article asks (1) can state governments in the United States afford to fund this initiative and (2) can public higher education institutions in the U.S. fund this effort through capitalizing on…

Despite the substantial size of the population, relatively little research has focused on the status and experiences of undergraduate parents. Using descriptive analyses of data from the NPSAS:04, this study provides a starting point for campus administrators, public policymakers, and educational researchers who seek to identify ways to better…

Despite long-term and ongoing efforts to close the achievement gap between disadvantaged and advantaged students, low-income students continue to perform at considerably lower levels than their higher-income peers in reading and mathematics. Research has shown that students' skills and knowledge often deteriorate during the summer months, with…

This report was prepared by the National Child Care Information and Technical Assistance Center (NCCIC) in partnership with staff from the Child Care Bureau. NCCIC compiled data reported in approved CCDF Plans and relevant attachments submitted by Lead Agencies for a selected number of questions. The information presented reflects some of the…

Undocumented immigrant postsecondary students face myriad challenges while pursuing a college education. These overwhelmingly first-generation, low-income students lose their guarantee to a public education ensured by the 1982 "Plyler v. Doe" decision when they complete secondary school. They are foreclosed from traditional financial…

There are very real barriers to using people, time, money, and technology well in today's public schools systems. To begin to break down these barriers, the Education Resource Strategies (ERS) has created a framework to prioritize seven urgent restructuring priorities. The authors have found that these areas represent the largest opportunities for…