Describes an Illinois case involving the demotion of an elementary school principal with 5 years of experience to a classroom teacher. The former principal sued the district claiming that her state due-process rights were violated. The state court disagreed, entering a summary judgment for the district; later affirmed on appeal. Reviews other…

Discusses how a time-series approach was used in the evaluation of the impact of California Senate Bill 2669 on child maltreatment reports. Describes the factors that influenced decisions about evaluation methods and the selection of outcome and exogenous measures. Recommends actions that would facilitate the implementation of evaluations of this…

Suggests that state-mandated testing will not restore the teaching of common culture in public schools, since most schools teach test-related technical skills rather than a deep and shared understanding of literature, history, mathematics, science, and foreign language. Certain choice schools, unfettered by state testing requirements, may be the…

Describes how Winthrop School District conducted an indepth review of historic and current financial and statistical data involving enrollment, revenue, staffing, and expenditures in an effort to meet the requirements of the Massachusetts Education Accountability Act passed by the legislature in 1993. (Contains four references.) (PKP)

Reviews history of incremental improvements in Iowa's school finance system. Using standards of taxpayer and student equity, reexamines the finance system and test effects of recent reforms. Discusses how Iowa and other legislative-initiated reform states fit into the overall pattern of school finance reform. (Authors/PKP)

This article reports on ethics issues involving school leaders. Some superintendents have landed in murky ethical waters for their ties to for-profit companies, highlighting the temptations administrators face as industry and education increasingly intersect. Some questionable judgments by superintendents--from accepting company-paid trips to…

This article analyzes the public rhetoric during the November 2002 vote over bilingual education in Colorado and Massachusetts. We argue that the neoassimilationist views displayed in both states represent a new step in the evolution of assimilation theory and ideology--one that has adapted to both the current immigrant environment and to…

Colleagues, legislative staff, interest groups, administrative agencies, universities and think tanks, the media, and constituents are some of the more commonly recognized sources of information for state legislators. Results of a survey of 507 legislators in 12 U.S. states reveal that ethnic associations, grassroots organizations, the Internet,…

This article integrates the technical model of policy implementation with a co-constructed perspective of implementation to understand the impact of the New Jersey Department of Education's (NJDOE) actions and policies on implementation of a set of court-ordered mandates in 30 of the state's poorest school districts (referred to as the Abbott or…

Employing a theoretical framework derived from the policy innovation and diffusion literature, this research examines how variations over time and across state sociopolitical systems influence states' adoption of accountability policies in higher education. Specifically, factors influencing the adoption of three kinds of performance-accountability…

Blackstone's Commentaries stated that the common law imposed a duty on parents to provide for the maintenance, protection, and education of their children, and of these, the duty to provide an education was "of far the greatest importance." Early on American courts cited Blackstone for the proposition of the common law duty of parents…

The Quality Education Investment Act (QEIA) is California's latest K-12 intervention program to support low-performing schools. The state will allocate close to $2.7 billion through this seven-year program to help these schools meet performance and resource benchmarks. This two-page brief explains the selection and funding processes, details the…

Undocumented immigrant students in California are eligible to receive only private scholarships that "[aren't] enough to support a very expensive education," says CCLC CEO Scott Lay. Dr. Gerardo E. de los Santos, CEO of the League for Innovation in the Community College, calls "serving the undocumented" one of the major…

For more than half a century, the lucrative Detroit automobile industry drove Michigan's economy, providing the state with plenty of tax revenue to support its public colleges and universities. In recent years, however, the woes of the Big Three auto companies have caused state spending to plummet, resulting in cuts or minimal increases in the…

Legislatures are set to convene in January in 43 states. This article presents the key issues that are expected to be debated by legislatures in states this year. These issues include: (1) Annulment of a controversial law in Texas that guarantees students who graduate in the top 10 percent of their high-school classes admission to any public…