The evolution, changing role, and recent criticisms of Britain's University Grants Committee, the government agency charged with channelling funds to higher education institutions, are reviewed and discussed. The appropriateness of the concept and structure in a time of great educational change are specifically addressed. (MSE)

The modern role of New Zealand's University Grants Committee (UGC) in relation to universities and the Department of Education is examined, with emphasis on the historical and political factors resulting in the demise of the University of New Zealand and bringing the UGC into being. Recent loss of some autonomy as a result of financial exigency is…

The purpose of this paper is to explore the implications of ability grouping in relation to equal educational opportunity as provided for by the "equal protection clause" of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. In view of the disproportionate numbers of minorities assigned to low ability groups, is grouping legal? (Author/JM)

The data on public elementary and secondary education in this document are collected and reported each year by the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), U.S. Department of Education. The data are part of the "National Public Education Financial Survey" (NPEFS), one of the components of the Common Core of Data (CCD) collection…

College tuition is frequently compared, in press and politics, to the US median family income. That is, however, a highly misleading benchmark since schools with need-based financial aid rarely charge students from median income families the reported sticker price. Working from the financial aid records of individual students at twenty-eight…

Youth corrections in California is at a crossroads. In response to the near universal recognition of California's failed approach to youth corrections, Governor Schwarzenegger, with support from the California Legislature, has launched one of the largest restructuring initiatives of youth corrections in state history. Reforms currently underway…

Early proponents of charter schools argued that these human-scale organizations would help close the achievement gap. This paper examines survey data from principals of 1,010 charter schools nationwide during the 1999-2000 school year, along with 2,847 teachers in the same schools. Issues considered include how local activists and charter-school…

The 2004 Strategic Master Plan for Higher Education identified clear and measurable goals that focused on outcomes rather than inputs alone. To reinforce this outcomes-based approach, the plan proposed that the state develop a new funding method to reward public colleges and universities for student success. Specifically, it proposed that the…

This study examined ethnic community perceptions of the Austin Independent School District (AISD). It investigated citizens' assessments of the quality of public education, ethnic tensions in the schools, and the equality of resource distribution among the schools. It also examined variations in perceptions of the AISD by ethnic group. Data…

This document presents fiscal year 2003 budget recommendations for Illinois higher education operations, grants, and capital improvements. For operations and grants, general funds of $2,789.2 million are recommended, an increase of $100 million, or 3.7%. New funds are targeted to address the six goals of "The Illinois Commitment:…

This study compared the equity and adequacy outcomes for plaintiff and nonplaintiff school districts as they relate to the Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA) of 1990. Both descriptive statistics and correlation analysis were used in comparing variables and in determining the differences in selected finance measures. There were three major…

This document contains fiscal year 2004 budget recommendations for Illinois higher education operations, grants, and capital improvements. These recommendations have been developed with a focus on the programs and activities necessary to continue the implementation of "The Illinois Commitment" while being cognizant of the state's current…

This paper examines changes in California's school finance system over the past 35 years. It focuses specifically on the growth of categorical program funding. The study assesses the nature and magnitude of changes, the causes of those changes, the significance of those changes for the capacity of schools to provide high quality educational…

The goals of this study were to identify those variables that prove indicative of the relative demand for library monographs by subject and to develop a practical method for allocating funding by subject. California State University, Chico, served as the sample for the study; data was collected from the 5-year period from 1990 to 1995. The…

With the advent of large interest in school-based management came the task of inventing a different type of budgeting system--one that delegated the many tasks of developing a budget, expending the allocated funds, and controlling those expenditures in a way that did not exceed the allocation to the site level. This book explores the various means…