Many professors and administrators express a common complaint about how universities work--that employees and units are often charged fees for work or services they receive from other campus units. This practice, often called "chargebacks," is much misunderstood because it seems counterintuitive: If you are employed by the university, why should…

The CATO Institute's Policy Analysis "They Spend WHAT? The Real Cost of Public Schools" contends that the figures most commonly associated with spending on K-12 public education do not include all relevant expenditures. It also cites survey evidence suggesting that voters underestimate the cost of education and, when presented with a higher…

As a starting point for the Strategic School Funding for Results (SSFR) project, the AIR/PLP (American Institutes for Research/Pivot Learning Partners) team developed a series of protocols to conduct interviews and focus groups with district administrators and school principals. The purpose of these interviews and focus groups was to gain an…

This study is the tenth in a series of studies conducted by the American Association of School Administrators on the impact of the economic downturn on schools. AASA launched the series in fall 2008 in response to state budget shortfalls, federal buyouts and interventions, and a series of additional events characterizing a slowing, stagnant…

The purpose of the United States Department of Education's (the Department) Fiscal Year (FY) 2014 "Agency Financial Report" (AFR) is to inform Congress, the President, and the American people on how the Department has used federal resources entrusted to it to promote achievement and preparedness of youth entering a global environment by…

If one wanted to win a library election in 2006, what would have been the mythical perfect referenda? For building referenda, the sweet spot was hit with measures over $10 million, on a ballot sometime between September and December, with no other items on the ballot, in a general election, for a library serving a population under 100,000. For the…

Presents an investigation of public library operations to determine whether economies or diseconomies of scale exist, thus providing an analysis of the cost side of library operations. Costs are found proportional to output levels, meaning that average costs are the same regardless of library size. Quality of output is not considered. (Author/MBR)

As a starting point for their analysis of equity, the authors begin their work here with an examination of the relationship between student performance, as measured by the California Academic Performance Index (API), and student needs, as measured by the percentage of students from low-income families (i.e., the percent of students eligible for…

The Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 (Public Law 111-152) was put in place to provide for reconciliation pursuant to Title II of the concurrent resolution on the budget for fiscal year 2010 (S. Con. Res. 13). The table of contents for this Act is as follows: (1) Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. (A) Title--Coverage,…

Econometric cost functions have begun to appear in education adequacy cases with greater frequency. Cost functions are superficially attractive because they give the impression of objectivity, holding out the promise of scientifically estimating the cost of achieving specified levels of performance from actual data on spending. By contrast, the…

Printers represent a big chunk of school districts' IT budgets. Unlike computers, however, most of the money schools spend on printers is not on the machines themselves but on keeping them serviced and filled with toner, drums, and paper. In this article, the author discusses five critical questions to ask before buying a printer.

This publication details the institutional goals, objectives, and strategies of public higher institutions in Arkansas as related to their 2009-2011 appropriations requests. It also provides operating and capital recommendations of the Arkansas Public Higher Education Coordinating Board for the Fiscal Year 2010-11 for each institution. [For Volume…

The Public Service Commission in New York is studying methods of repricing utility services. The study will try to determine who pays how much of the revenues required to operate a utility efficiently. (Author/MLF)

ENOUGH FUNDS SHOULD BE BUDGETED TO INSURE A QUALIFIED STAFF, ADEQUATE EQUIPMENT, AND THE BEST EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM THAT CAN BE PROVIDED FOR YOUNG CHILDREN. IN TERMS OF FACILITIES AND CIRCUMSTANCES, COSTS WILL VARY. THEREFORE, THE SAMPLE BUDGETS APPENDED ARE ONLY APPROXIMATE AND SUGGESTIVE. SAMPLE BUDGETS COVER MINIMUM INITIAL OPERATING EXPENSES FOR…

Means for reproducing graphic materials are explained. There are several types of processes: those using light sensitive material, those using heat sensitive material, those using photo conductive materials (electrophotography), and duplicating processes using ink. For each of these, the principles behind them are explained, the necessary…