In "Wood," a dismissed employee sued the school district, the board, and three board members for violating Washington's Open Public Meetings Act (OPMA). The Court of Appeals ruled that e-mail exchanges between board members discussing board business are "meetings" governed by OPMA. Board members should review state law with…

Describes the efforts, outcomes, and recommendations from an urban California school district's pilot program for vaccinating preteens in two diverse urban middle schools. Barriers and strategies included staff inexperience, educating students, informing parents, tracking vaccinations, coping with language diversity, and creating individualized…

Analyzes how Arizona charter school policymakers succeeded in preserving the legislative intentions of the state's charter school program. Identifies four key features of policy implementation that created the charter school policy: communication, financial resources, implementor attitudes, and bureaucratic structure. (SLD)

Explores implications of the democratic imperative for fiscal equity reform, reviewing legal doctrines and trends in federal and state fiscal equity and educational adequacy litigations; examining the commitment to adequate education for all students and how it has fueled a recent dynamic democratic imperative; and proposing a new public…

Explores the relationship between (Ontario) secondary-school organizational structures and implementation of legislated change initiatives. Examines the role of individuals responsible for implementing two legislated curriculum innovations: curriculum integration and performance-based assessment. Implementing whole-school or subject-based…

Discusses available data on special-education costs, reviews New York State's initiative to document educational outcomes for special-needs students, and summarizes three service-delivery models. A cost-analysis of one district's program shows a model's cost is related to the identified number of special-needs students and their needs. (Contains…

This article relates the experiences of a fifth-grade teacher who was determined to find a creative way to engage her students in civic life. The educational standards in her state (Washington) required that fifth graders learn about the basic structure and work of government at the state and federal level. Realizing that students tend to enjoy…

The press media has taken an active role in the debates over bilingual education through editorial analysis and policy recommendations. The editorials' policy recommendations are influential because they are directed at the political elite as well as to the general public, both of which have a limited understanding of bilingual education.…

This article reports on the plight of undocumented immigrant students in the United States. Fights have been waged in various state legislatures over the past few years concerning whether undocumented immigrant students should be able to benefit from in-state tuition rates at public colleges and universities. But a story in The Wall Street Journal…

To give states the information they need to sustain hard-fought education reform effectively, Achieve conducted research on state education reforms that have been sustained successfully for over a decade or more. Funded by the GE Foundation, Achieve hopes this work will help other state leaders, wherever they may be on their road to reform,…

This paper responds to Resolution 9.05 Fall 2007, calling for an update of the Academic Senate's 1996 paper Program Review: Developing a Faculty Driven Process in the light of recent accreditation changes and other emerging issues. This paper has been written to expand on the best elements of the 1996 paper and to stand on its own without…

Despite economic and social challenges facing California, Children Now advocates that the foundation of state vitality and well-being is a healthy, educated and skilled population, and urges efficient investments in children. State leadership is called upon to: (1) Ensure every child has affordable health insurance coverage; (2) Invest earlier in…

The purpose of the report is to inform students, parents, school personnel, and officials of the legal issues related to harassment, bullying, and discrimination of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) students. This report describes existing research on the current school climate for LGBT youth as well as the harmful effects of…

Two-way bilingual immersion programs are noteworthy within the context of US public education because, in them, the children of immigrants are essential assets. Language-minority and English-speaking pupils are grouped together, starting in kindergarten or earlier and extending at least through grade five, with a goal of bilingual proficiency and…

Throughout history, societal investments in children have resulted in increased prosperity for individuals, communities, states and nations. This proved to be the case for California in the 1950s and 1960s, when the state strongly supported children's futures. Despite once following this path to prosperity, California has de-prioritized children…