This policy brief outlines how national education accounts (NEAs) are created, and why they are a vast improvement over current financial tracking systems in the education sector. Examples from the health sector illustrate the benefits of national accounts for improving public services, and their ubiquity highlights the poor state of affairs of…

A number of criticisms of the National School Lunch Program are substantiated by a structural analysis within the general context of national child nutrition needs. The National School Lunch Program has been criticized principally on the ground of inadequate coverage of child nutrition needs, particularly for poor children. For the year 1968,…

This report on Institutional Effectiveness (IE) at South Texas Community College (STCC) analyzes the evolution of IE over a 5-year period. The report identifies four phases: (1) assessment (1996-98); (2) assessment and follow-up (1998-99); (3) unit planning (1999-2000); and (4) institutional effectiveness. The phased-in planning was instituted…

The purpose of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act Title I is to provide financial assistance to local educational agencies serving areas with concentrations of educationally disadvantaged children from low-income families. This document explains the administrative structure necessary to impliment Title I programs on national, State, and…

The characteristics of California's Student Aid Commission grant program applicants and recipients were examined to assess the extent to which aid programs meet state goals. Attention is directed to major problems confronting the three Cal Grant programs and a range of possible policy and program options. The three programs are: Cal Grant A State…

A review of the South Carolina master plan for higher education is presented. The following issues are addressed: coordination and governance, roles and missions of state colleges and universities, enrollment projections, program review, prerequisites for freshman admission, quality incentives, desegregation of state institutions, finances, and…

The study described in this report was conducted to explore the problems with, and possible alternatives to, the current Title IIA and IIB allocation formula required by the Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA). The study included a literature and legislation review; interviews with practitioners, public interest groups, and Congressional staff to…

This report was sought by the Conference Committee on the Consolidated Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1985, concerned that federal law allows payments from tribal trust funds to be excluded when determining eligibility for welfare benefits to American Indians. Applicable federal laws and eligibility policies were reviewed to determine the…

In the past decade, based on a change in paradigms in university policy, performance funding on a cantonal and central state level has been introduced in Switzerland: the universities have been granted higher autonomy, combined with global budgets and contract management by the responsible authorities (cantonal authorities). At the same time, the…

This report to the Mississippi Legislature presents the findings of a review of the cash management policies, procedures, and practices of the State Board of Trustees of Institutions of Higher Learning (IHL). The methodology involved review of: applicable Mississippi statutes; standards promulgated by the National Association of College and…

At the request of the state legislature, the California State Postsecondary Education Commission presents comments on "The Consortium," a 14-year-old external degree program which the California State University decided to disband. Commission comments on the university report include concerns over the funding mechanisms currently…

Trends in state budgeting agencies' staffs, roles, functions and relative power, interagency relationships and relative power, and the effects of professional staffing on budget policy and on democratic practice and decision-making are considered. The following three types of legislative staffs that impinge directly on budget decisions are…

This paper examines fiscal implications of five 1983 reports that recommend reform of America's schools. Greater rigor in curriculum and textbook content is a common report theme, while three call for specific graduation requirements. Generally, reports recommend increasing time for key courses and requiring regular homework, achievement tests,…