Health insurance benefit programs in Texas community college districts fall into three groups. Comprising 25% of the districts, districts fall into three groups. Comprising 25% of the districts, the "help me now" group has experienced heavy group health insurance benefit utilization over the past few years and is unable to purchase required…

Cost-saving considerations, the threat of declining enrollments, and efforts by community colleges to be responsive to their communities have created a temporary staff maintained on a relatively permanent and continuing basis. Between 1975 and 1983, roughly two new part-time positions were created for every new full-time position. Rather than…

Educational quality and the organizational structure of the nation's educational system are examined in relation to the call for reform in American public education in this symposium paper. In "Introduction and Problem Statement," Robert H. Beach states that problems in American education stem from a structurally dysfunctional system,…

State education agency personnel in 48 states were surveyed regarding current financing practices that would positively affect small school districts. One-half of the states were found to currently provide some type of additional operating revenue to small schools or school districts through pupil weighting, identification as geographically…

The first two-thirds of this book, an adaptation of the 1984 television documentary "To Save Our Schools, To Save Our Chldren," reports on an ABC News Closeup study of the challenges facing education in the United States. The book discusses the vast dispartities between educational ideals and realities, suggests that the future of…

This monograph evaluates the equity, adequacy, and efficiency of the Illinois system of school finance. After a brief introduction outlining the purpose and limitations of the study, it first develops two operational definitions of equity, based on disparity measurements and on the association between district spending and local wealth. The…

This hearing before the Select Committee on Indian Affairs (United States Senate) concerns a bill (S.1645) to: (1) reauthorize funding for Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) schools and dormitory facilities; (2) prevent termination or alteration of BIA-funded schools except by specific provision of law or as requested by tribal governing bodies; and…

This hearing concerns a bill (S.1645) to: (1) reauthorize funding for Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) schools and dormitory facilities; (2) prevent termination or alteration of BIA-funded schools except by specific provision of law or as requested by tribal governing bodies; and (3) require full disclosure to the tribal governing body of any…

Historical trends in American postsecondary education and policy issues for the 1980s are discussed. It is noted that at the same time that access to higher education has been increased, there has been a commitment to diversity in colleges. Along with increased numbers of college-aged persons in the 1960s, the U.S. Government, illustrating a…

Five articles are presented concerning student aid planning and educational policy, based on experiences gained in regional workshops conducted by the National Institute of Independent Colleges and Universities (NIICU). The purpose of the workshops was to translate the data gathered in the NIICU Student Aid Recipient Survey into formats useful for…

Two position papers for the Alden Seminar on Higher Education and an overview of the January 1982 Alden Seminar meeting are presented. The Alden Seminars, which are attended by officers of business and industry and colleges and universities in Massachusetts, provide a forum for the discussion of the current situation in higher education, with…

This pamphlet includes several program transcripts on educational research from the National Public Radio series, Options in Education. Dr. Harold Hodgkinson, former Director of the National Institute of Education, and Noel Epstein, Education Editor of the Washington Post, discuss "The Quality of Media Reporting on Education" and whether…

This report on the governance of public education in Washington, D.C. describes issues and conflicts that have arisen since the 19th century among the agencies which have exercised various forms and degrees of authority and responsibility for education in the District: The Board of School Trustees or Board of Education; the central city…

Approaches to the difficulties facing higher education are considered, based on the viewpoint of the governor of Oklahoma. It is suggested that if scarce financial resources are used to maintain a broad-based liberal education, difficult choices will need to be made in other areas in order to preserve that priority. For example, it is too…

The responses of state colleges and universities to substantial reductions in their appropriations are examined in a one-year study that encompasses experience with fiscal stringency in about a dozen states, primarily in five states. Some key concepts such as "retrenchment,""time," and the differences in statewide organizations…