Many facilities in American public schools are in disrepair, a situation negatively affecting the morale, health, and learning of students and teachers. Many schools postpone repairs during tight financial times to pay for academic programs. Some school officials and communities are pursuing innovative, grassroots solutions to maintaining school…

Since the passage of the Family Support Act in 1988, states have been pursuing a variety of experiments in welfare policy innovation. This document summarizes state welfare waiver requests reviewed and approved by the Department of Health and Human Services as of September 1995. Included in the document is a list of definitions of waiver provision…

The California Department of Education awarded Amnesty Education Program funds to service providers to serve immigrant adults needing to fulfill legalization requirements by obtaining a Certificate of Satisfactory Pursuit, and to make available to immigrant adults education and training that would enable them to succeed in school and become more…

The U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Education and Labor reported on the Improving America's Schools Act of 1994, which would extend for 6 years the programs under the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. This report suggests that legislation with amendments and recommends that the bill be passed. The Improving America's…

This report provides an overview and analysis of the Clinton Administration's school reform proposal, Goals 2000: Educate America Act, submitted to the 103d Congress on April 22, 1993. The proposal, which seeks to create a national structure for supporting school reform, addresses three primary topics: (1) education goals, standards, and…

This report presents some of the prominent features of a national invitational conference whose goal was to provide a national forum to discuss ongoing preservation efforts in individual states; describe the preservation challenge faced by all states in common; review the kinds of materials at risk; and alert administrators to the opportunities…

Results of a survey on the effects of federal student financial aid programs on the states are presented, including an overview of the findings for all states and information for each state. While some states indicated that the federal student aid programs had been the foundation on which state programs were structured, a larger group of states…

Three analyses on the State Student Incentive Grant (SSIG) program conducted by Janet S. Hansen of the College Entrance Examination Board are summarized. Two informal analyses and the following extensive analysis are considered: "The State Student Incentive Grant Program: An Assessment of the Record and Options for the Future" (Hansen,…

While most categorical programs are subject to problems stemming from local, state, and Federal overlap, the problems produced by these parallel structures in bilingual education appear to be dissipating through local capacity-building, increased state legislation for bilingual education, and Federal awareness of its role and support for state and…

An evaluation of the federal-state revenue sharing experiment finds it wanting in terms of three basic criteria: (1) responsiveness to the needs of those disadvantaged by race, sex, low income, age, or poor health; (2) public involvement in the budget making process; and, (3) the effectiveness of enforcement of nondiscrimination requirements on…

An exploration of some of the relationships between organizational characteristics of a state education agency and the decision making process in federal program administration. The consequences of the structural characteristics of a professional organization for the administration of externally imposed policy are discussed, leading to some…

Research was conducted to determine the extent to which the states have been able to spend their Job Training Partnership Act (JTPA) 3-percent set-aside funds for assistance to economically disadvantaged workers 55 years old and older, to compare the expenditure rate of the older worker set-aside with the expenditure rates of other JTPA programs,…

Testimony concerning the proposed Regulatory Impact on Student Excellence Act (RISE), a bill to assist schools in improving student performance, is reported. The text of the bill is given in full. It begins with Congress's finding that: (1) public school teachers are currently spending more time on regulatory paperwork; (2) many teachers have…

The booklet describes the provisions and the significance of two laws which provide technology services or devices for persons with disabilities: Public Law 100-407, the Technology Related Assistance for Individuals with Disabilities Act of 1988; and Public Law 100-360, the Medicare Catastrophic Coverage Act. The first authorizes federal funds to…

The report discusses issues related to special education financing and proposes nine actions to remedy problems in this area. The commission's members included leaders from professional organizations as well as representatives of federal, state, and local groups responsible for public education. The first six recommendations focus on improved…