Superintendents face a no-win proposition when confronting attempted school board takeovers by religious-fundamentalist candidates. Public political disagreement may be a legitimate ground for a superintendent's dismissal. The safest course is to work quietly behind the scenes and encourage others to question candidates' qualifications and…

Focusing on Jefferson's and Madison's writings, demonstrates that the popular education/liberal republican democracy linkage constitutionalized by founders was real and correct. Conservative Congressional Republicans who tout their Jeffersonian and Madisonian political underpinnings should reconsider before undermining the federal role in U.S.…

"Mock v. Kansas" (1991) determined that the state legislature is obligated to fund its schools so that each child receives an equal educational opportunity. Two major sources of funding variations (the local option budget and higher weightings for rural students) represent unjustified disparities based on politics (and spending) as…

Summarizes background and aftermath of 1993 and 1997 New Hampshire Supreme Court unconstitutionality rulings against the state education finance system. Highlights "Claremont II," discussing initial responses, the Rubens constitutional amendment, the governor's ABC Plan, the bipartisan constitutional amendment, the 1998 governor race,…

Examines the evoluation of proportional representation and its applicability to school districts, citing relevant court decisions. Recommends single-member districts and outlines a method for apportioning them. (MCG)

In October 1996, the Illinois Supreme Court affirmed lower court decisions and dismissed a lawsuit claiming that the state's public school funding system violated the Illinois constitution. This decision ended a six-year battle to reform the state's school funding system. The courts found no constitutional issues in the case because education has…

The idea of resistance (and empowerment) in critical pedagogy is rooted in traditional notions of Marxist vanguard politics that consider the trade-unionized white male working class as the entitled leaders of the revolutionary movement. Marxism fosters a theory and practice of elitist leadership notions that is replicated among contemporary…

The 1992 "United States v. Fordice" case is the judicial precedent for desegregating higher education. Across 19 southern and border states, the desegregation burden has been shifted disproportionately to historically black colleges. This legal and political investigation explores acceptable responses to the desegregation mandate that…

Analyzes 240 First Amendment cases involving school administrator dismissals, focusing on each administrator's (alleged) behavior or situation leading to the court's decision. These cases disclose a substantial volume of behavior that is inexcusable, outrageous, self-destructive, and embarrassing. Many accounts illustrate the stress, ambiguities,…

The examination of Montana's teacher tenure laws as mandated by House Joint Resolution 43, required a thorough review of the legislative development of the teacher employment laws, a summary of relevant case law on the rights of school boards and teachers, an awareness of the philosophical postures of the affected parties, and a dispassionate look…

Circumstances surrounding the issue of local school district superintendent appointment, as opposed to election, are discussed in this report. Also examined are the efforts in six southeastern states--Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Tennessee--to create systems in which all district superintendents are appointed. Data…

In response to a 1978 mandate, this concluding volume of the School Finance Project's final report concentrates on the broader intergovernmental issues relating to the design and transmission of federal policies and programs, and on the effects of federal activities on state and local education agencies and on schools. The specific Department of…

This report consolidates the information from a series of reports by the General Accounting Office (GAO) on states' fiscal, programmatic, and managerial responses to the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981. Section 1 describes the major issues related to block grant implementation: (1) fiscal strategies adopted by states in response to…

This volume summarizes and analyzes judicial decisions affecting educational policy and management that were handed down in 1986 by state appellate courts and federal courts. The book is divided into the following eight topical chapters, each written by one or more experts in education law: (1) "Employees" by Gail Paulus Sorenson; (2) "Bargaining"…

This report presents specific recommendations to the Department of Health and Human Services and Congress from the Council on Graduate Medical Education that address Medicare's direct and indirect graduate medical education (GME) payments and the monies allocated by the Public Health Service that is targeted toward physician education and primary…