To determine what lies ahead for a school system and to be ready for it, school board members need to plan, this paper maintains. The author makes suggestions for several components of planning, including goal setting and developing priorities for facility use, staffing, programs, and services. The importance of the school district budget and…

Interest in the Planning, Programming, Budgeting System (PPBS) has waned over the last five years for several reasons. Early rhetoric about PPBS obscured its true character and promised more than it could deliver. Initially, few had the competencies needed to implement it. It is often wrongly believed to be solely a budgeting system. Finally,…

Although the general thrust of recent education reports and studies--to strengthen the academic quality of secondary education--has been salutary, efforts fall short of giving clear direction for school improvement in a number of areas particularly important to urban school superintendents. The reports fail to recognize the unique context of urban…