The role of teacher educators is particularly significant for the welfare of a democratic society and for the education of its children and youth. Recently, however, the decline in enrollment in teacher education programs and in school-age children poses pervasive and serious problems, leading to the curtailment of programs and the retrenchment of…

As a response to the concerns associated with the allocation of state resources to institutions of higher education, several states have developed budget formulas to derive estimates of the institutional financial requirements. Formulas, however, were developed during a period of rapid growth, and might be unresponsive to institutional needs…

A long-range financial planning model was developed by the staff of the Minnesota Higher Education Coordinating Board to explore the issues and problems facing the financing of Minnesota postsecondary education. The model was designed to determine the extent to which alternative general financing policies and specific funding formulas affect…

The appropriation, payments, and amounts lapsed during fiscal year (FY) 1978 of state aid payments for the public community colleges in Illinois are outlined in tabular form. A total of $111,771,600 was appropriated from the State General Revenue Funds for the colleges in FY 1978. Of that amount, only $108,749,229.98 actually was paid out. The…

During 1976-77, 42% of U.S. schools operated with fewer than 600 pupils and 27% operated with fewer than 300 pupils; Iowa had 181 K-12 public school systems with fewer than 300 pupils in 1977-78. All of Iowa's smaller school systems were located in the more sparsely populated rural areas of the state, had higher than average per pupil assessed…

While the elite private colleges may survive the enrollment declines of the 1980's and 1990's, the less elite, so-called invisible private colleges may have more difficulty. Finance, enrollment, and competition are the three major elements seen to threaten these institutions' futures. They face an uncertain financial future since historically they…

During 1955 to 1964, nearly 42 million births occurred in the United States. This established a record unequaled to then and unlikely to soon be repeated. This bulletin explores the roots of the baby boom and its lasting impact on U.S. society; an impact accentuated by the unexpected interruption of a century-long fertility decline and the…

The first half of this paper reviews the school enrollment trend in the state of Wisconsin and discusses the implications of school closings. It offers planning suggestions to local districts in light of statewide declining enrollments. The second half of the paper--a review of recent literature related to "cutback management"--is…

A study of the history of public financing of elementary and secondary education in Ontario and the issues and choices presently facing the province's finance system suggest that proposals for radical change must be considered. Current pressures on the mixed provincial-local system of finance come from the slow rate of economic expansion generally…

A sample of 11 school boards in Ontario forms the data base for this study, which embraces several objectives: the identification and analysis of current policies, of strategies being employed or developed, of possible alternative policies and strategies, and of constraints faced by boards in coping with declining enrollment. The data reveal that…

Based on a sample of 12 representative school boards in Ontario, a normative method of analysis was utilized in addressing the major concerns of the study: the appropriate number of noncertified staff for a given school board, future demand for and supply of noncertified staff, and the resultant implications of such information. The study…

A questionnaire surveying a 5 percent sample of Ontario's schools attempted to evaluate how declining enrollment is affecting principals and vice-principals in their relationships with staff, students, community, colleagues, trustees, and superiors, as well as in their personal lives. Analysis of the data reveals that there is generally more…

A review of the property tax system of financing education in Ontario provides historical background for the consideration of alternative approaches to reform. The problem of declining enrollment lends a sense of immediacy to the discussion. The present system of finance is found to be unsatisfactory because of inequities in property assessment…

With the basic assumption that reduction in force is inevitable, this paper discusses the legal ramifications as well as an orderly procedure for implementing reduction in force. Recent litigation with regard to reduction in force action falls in the broad categories of constitutional questions, statutory law, and contract provisions.…

In this paper a review of the Wisconsin declining enrollment trend is presented and implications are noted for Wisconsin districts involved in school closing efforts. The author suggests that districts can best meet the challenge of declining enrollment by considering local enrollment projections, taking a facilities and program inventory,…