As costs rise and companies discontinue coverage of college students under parents' policies, students are choosing to forego insurance rather than pay for it themselves, so suggest speakers at the American College Health Association's annual meeting. Colleges offering group-insurance policies to students are also having problems renewing them.…

Some advice is offered to trustees who find themselves in the position of having to close an institution in the face of seemingly conflicting legal standards. (Author/MLW)

Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New York face giant deficits in their state budgets. The financial impact of the 1986 federal tax reform law was underestimated by colleges and income estimates were overly optimistic for 1988 and 1989. Unpopular, new taxes are seen as the way to solve the budget crunch. (MLW)

Uses Blau and Scott concept of "cui bono" to describe who has benefited from 1990 Kentucky Education Reform Act. In eyes of legislators, everyone would benefit, and the economically depressed state would prosper. As implementation of KERA progresses, it is becoming increasingly clear that mandated changes may be structural and may…

Discusses incremental SBM budgeting and answers questions regarding resource equity, bookkeeping requirements, accountability, decision-making processes, and purchasing. Approaching site-based management as an incremental process recognizes that every school system engages in some level of site-based decisions. Implementation can be gradual and…

Generally, amount of stress generated by difficult situations is inversely proportional to one's perceived control over them. Stressed-out principals are advised to work on their attitude, create new personal focus (a hobby or exercise program), initiate new professional focus, be good to themselves, rely on well-established support systems, and…

School districts are caught in a financial squeeze with reduced federal funding, recessionary reductions at the state level, and political pressures against raising taxes. School districts are searching for alternative sources of funds including school impact fees and business partnerships. One method, tax abatement, often costs districts because…

Data from two-parent families in midwestern rural county revealed that adverse economic change increased economic pressures and hardship adaptations in ways that matched effect of income level and exceeded influence of unstable work. Pressures and adaptations mediated negative effects of economic adversity on emotional health and family…

The expected 7.7 percent increase in state student financial aid has been revised down because of midyear state budget reductions, to possibly the lowest rate in 23 years. Few states will make big increases. About 52 percent of all need-based aid will go to private college students. Dollar amounts of aid in each state for 1991-92 are charted. (MSE)

If students can direct visitors to their school library/media center, it probably is central to their learning. A 1992 study found the size of school library staff and collections to be the best school predictor of student achievement. Budget cuts have resulted in too many understaffed, understocked, and closed-down facilities. Cooperation with…

Discusses programs sponsored by groups that promote history instruction in the state of Maine. Reports recent developments concerning Maine's social studies curriculum. Underscores the significance of and financial problems facing "Maine's Common Core of Learning," a program setting out what the state's youth should know in the…

A study of 25 South Dakota school districts found that combining the superintendency with either the elementary or the secondary principalship was not an ideal arrangement. For the district and teachers, the most consistent disadvantages relate to inadequate instructional leadership. For the superintendents, the greatest disadvantage is sacrifice…

Financial pressures, increasing enrollments, and the need for remedial education for many students are causing community colleges to reassess their priorities. Some faculty feel remedial programs are draining resources from other valuable areas of the curriculum. (MSE)

It is argued that educational finance reform proposals have emphasized the elements of a desirable financial system too greatly, while downplaying the constraints facing educational change. These constraints are illustrated in the case study of educational reform in Manitoba, which has about 60 school divisions and districts. (SLD)

Technology education is not an attractive option for developing countries with overwhelming short-term priorities. Rather than building a technologically literate population or preparing people for postsecondary technical education, these countries need curricula that solve basic economic development and unemployment problems. (SK)