In October 2023, more than 100 practitioners, professionals, and students gathered at UC Berkeley to share insights and discuss research on the growing crisis of student homelessness in California. With short-lived yet historic federal funding to support this population set to expire in September 2024, the convening encouraged researchers and…

The historic $3 billion investment in the California Community Schools Partnership Program provides an opportunity to transform schools into community hubs that deliver a whole child education. This brief examines key elements of the new law. It then lays out evidence-based principles of high-quality community schools implementation that are…

Campus shootings have impacted campuses across the United States for almost two centuries. Between 2015 and 2016, at least three historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) experienced multiple shootings where students were killed in each incident. This qualitative comparative case study used secondary data to explore the similarities and…

The landscape of K-12 education funding in the United States is exceptionally complex. When it comes to funding an equitable, high-quality education for English Learners (ELs), discussions often focus on federal funds under Title III of the "Every Student Succeeds Act" (ESSA)--an important source of funding for many aspects of ELs'…

The Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) represents a fundamental transformation of the way California allocates state funds to school districts and the ways the state expects districts to make decisions about (and report on) the use of these funds. This is the first in a series of short briefs that aims to capture some key themes emerging from…

Background: In 2009, the Obama Administration announced its intention to rapidly "turn around" 5,000 of the nation's lowest-performing schools. To do so, it relied on the School Improvement Grant (SIG) program to provide temporary funding for states and schools, and to mandate drastic, school-level reforms. Most of these reforms require…

This summary presents the findings from four regional workshops conducted as part of the Alaska School Finance Study. The purposes of the workshops, held in Bethel, Juneau, Fairbanks, and Anchorage, were to consider current and future methods of financing the public schools, to obtain citizen and local educational agency concerns and…

UNEQUAL DISTRIBUTION IN SOME STATES OF STATE TAX MONIES FOR SCHOOLS HAS RESULTED IN A MUCH HIGHER PROPORTIONATE FUNDING FOR SUBURBAN SCHOOLS THAN URBAN SCHOOLS. THIS FISCAL INEQUITY IS DUE TO EXCESSIVE RELIANCE UPON THE NUMBER OF DOLLARS OF ASSESSED VALUE BEHIND EACH STUDENT IN THE DISTRICT AND TO FAILURE BY THE STATES TO RECOGNIZE THE…

This pamphlet is based on data from individual program reports, unpublished materials and correspondence, personal communications, site visits, a 1968 survey of programs for pregnant school-age girls, and a 1970 study of group infant care programs associated with programs for pregnant students. Since very few communities know the dollar cost of…

The current study replicates work of Regional Educational Laboratory (REL) Northeast and Islands. It describes dropout prevention programs in nine Mid-Atlantic Region (Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maryland, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania) school districts serving communities with populations of 24,742-107,250 (as of July 2008). All nine…

Presents a practical viewpoint of the economic necessities of funding education and a general model for restoring economic stability. This involves a fixed "Basic Education Budget" not subject to voter approval, an "Index for Fixed School Costs" based on socioeconomic status of the community, and increased community…

In January 1991, the National School Readiness Task Force was formed to promote the national goal of assuring that all children start school ready to learn. This report presents the Task Force's considerations and recommendations based on research reviews and interviews with practitioners nationwide. Following a brief discussion of the Task Force…

A historical overview and analysis of the decentralization process in Victoria, Australia, is the purpose of this paper. The case study illustrates the impact of conflict between political and administrative agendas on attempts to implement the government-initiated policy decision. The current two-tiered system is composed of central and local…

In the executive report to the 1990 annual report the Virginia Board for Rights of the Disabled summarizes findings from the analysis of 47 federally-assisted and state-funded programs serving individuals with developmental disabilities in Virginia as well as a consumer satisfaction survey polling 309 Virginians with developmental disabilities.…

This chapter provides insights into the solution of financial and governance problems that face big city education. The report identifies recent developments affecting big city education such as metropolitanism, regionalism, full State financing, revenue sharing, and reform of property taxation. The authors discuss (1) recent court cases affecting…