A purely geographic classification is not the best way to measure rural disadvantage in Australia. A service access model is described that incorporates the following elements: population center size; distance, time, and cost of travel to the service center; and a measure of the economic capacity of residents to overcome the cost of travel.…

Suggests library media specialists have a responsibility to make educational funding laws work for their children and communities. Discusses the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act; NCLB and libraries, and online resources; Reading First Grants; "VISIONS 2020: Transforming Education and Training through Advanced Technologies" and "Technology in…

Reviews four areas of change (resource allocation, organizational framework, governing systems, and market structure) providing a framework for understanding dynamic schools and their leaders. Today's principals must become resource mobilizers capable of forming business and private foundation partnerships, linking with social-service agencies,…

The National Women's Law Center alleges that 25 colleges and universities are violating federal anti-discrimination law (Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972) by giving female athletes a disproportionately small amount of sports-related financial aid. In 1995-96, 27 institutions achieved "substantial proportionality" in financial…

Twenty-five years after passage of Title IX, federal legislation barring sex discrimination in athletics in federally-funded schools, females make up 37% of college athletes and receive 38% of athletic scholarships at National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I schools. Women's participation in college sports has increased four-fold.…

Rethinks the use of teachers, a school's most expensive and important resource. Four categories could benefit from restructuring: teacher and aide allocation/assignment, teacher compensation, student support services, and general and special program administration. Middletown, New York, actually improved its student:teacher ratio by using its…

The role of two main sources of university research financing in solar energy is examined to assess whether they oriented research in the direction of government programs. The strongest relationship appears to be in journal publication patterns. This scientific community has acquired the capacity to tap varying sources. (Author/MSE)

Budget problems are leading states to limit grants for college students in 1990-91, although overall aid spending is higher than ever. Grant programs not based on need are increasing faster than spending on need-based aid, mostly in awards for academic achievement and programs for equalizing tuition between public and private institutions. (MSE)

Changes in Australia's university research funding, with both indirect and a substantial portion of direct funding administered centrally by the new Ministry of Employment, Education and Training, are discussed. The new arrangement is intended to ensure university research gives greater priority to projects contributing to national social and…

Political, academic, and business leaders are urging adoption of a federal technology policy that would focus on helping American companies compete in international trade. They feel increased partnerships between government, business, and universities and reallocation of research resources could help speed new knowledge from academic laboratories…

The University of Washington has addressed its deferred maintenance needs through a strategy that includes building an externally reinforced consensus, internal monitoring, a review and priority-setting system, and a conscious budget strategy that separates needs for deferred maintenance from projects that serve teaching and research directly.…

The head of a London primary school criticizes possible effects of the British Education Reform Act on the education of students with learning difficulties. Specifically noted are negative effects of local management of schools, reallocation of resources, formula funding, unequal ability by schools to raise funds, and destructive competition among…

Describes the structure of finance in the English education system; and examines the significance of the local management of schools legislation in terms of the following concepts: (1) formula; (2) delegated finance; (3) staffing delegation; (4) open enrollment; and (5) performance indicators. (18 references) (MLF)

Universities could increase their fiscal resources significantly through internal taxation. Internal taxation is a technique for obtaining flexibility in budgeting and making it possible for the university to support special programs, respond to special opportunities, retrieve resources from now inappropriate programs, and balance out the…

The "municipal overburden" argument alleges that cities lack adequate funding for their schools because they are unable to levy high enough tax rates. Examines support for the hypothesis held by jurists and legal commentators and then inquires why economists commonly find that position unacceptable. (MLF)