This report describes the current spending priorities of the Milwaukee (Wisconsin) Public Schools (MPS) and suggests how the same amount of money could be better spent on educating children. The report's major findings include the following: (1) of an average $6,451 expenditure per MPS pupil in 1989-90, only 26 percent finds its way into the…

The course of school finance reform in Washington since the 1977 "Seattle School District v. State" decision is traced in this document. While the majority of nationwide court decisions have centered on the inequitable distribution of financial resources among school districts within 10 states, the Washington decision focused on the…

This two-part report presents the results of a budget and funding sources survey of South Carolina library media center programs. In Part 1, survey results are presented for demographic information, staffing information, funding sources, funding amounts from specific sources, allocation of resources, and categories of expenditures. In Part 2, the…

A case-cluster study of trends in elementary level educational expenditures in the Regional Municipality of Ottawa-Carleton during 1980-88 is presented in this report. The following issues are addressed: (1) the amount spent by school boards, with a focus on per pupil expenditures in "real" dollars; (2) what these funds are spent on; and…

The school-based management program (SBM) of a large-city school district in a midwestern state is reviewed in this study to determine the equity of SBM budgets. Methodology involved analysis of 127 individual site-based school budgets within the district. Comparisons were made among schools on the bases of financial variables--total site-based…

Recommendations for the appropriations to each public college and university in Alabama are presented by the Alabama Commission on Higher Education (ACHE) in its 1991-92 unified budget report. The budget recommendations are provided in six sections: (1) executive summary of the 1991-92 unified budget recommendations; (2) higher education unified…

This paper explores the issue of "state policy" and the assessment process and how it can be applied to improving the teaching and learning process in undergraduate education. Three distinct policy questions are addressed: (1) how can assessment focus attention on what college graduates in a democratic society should know and be able to do? (2)…

The advantages of resource sharing in higher education are discussed, and the role of the Western Interstate Commission for Higher Education (WICHE) in facilitating cooperation is considered. A primary concern is to overcome the barriers of state boundaries to promote academic planning in the West. These issues are considered in a WICHE conference…

To investigate school districts' responses to fiscal constraint, this study examined the relationship between districts' expenditures per student and allocations of funds to instructional, support, and administrative costs. Budget allocations, as indicators of the districts' priorities, were compared for 1978-79 and 1981-82 in 46 Oregon school…

The Pell Grant Quality Control Study of 1982-83, the third stage of a contract with the Department of Education, was designed to identify program error rate, to measure the impact of increased validation activity, and to propose corrective actions to reduce the misallocation of program funds. A nationally representative sample of approximately…

The Pell Grant Quality Control Study of 1982-83, the third stage of a contract with the Department of Education, was designed to identify program error rate, to measure the impact of increased validation activity, and to propose corrective actions to reduce the misallocation of program funds. A nationally representative sample of approximately…

This paper presents a historical portrait of the process of financial resource allocation at Compton Community College (CCC). Introductory material provides information on the college, its organization, and its budgeting and accounting procedures. Next, changes in finances occurring between 1974-75 and 1977-78 are outlined, including the growth of…

Targeted as an area of low priority and faced with proposed major reductions in both program and staff, the Department of Physical Education, Health and Recreation at the University of Rhode Island has been involved in an on-going fight for survival. In response to these attitudes, the Department first presented, to the University administration,…

At the University of Florida, in Spring 2003, more than 32,000 individuals enrolled in courses using the centrally-supported Course Management System (CMS). Because less than 1 full time equivalent (FTE) was allocated to support the CMS, this created problems for both users and support providers. In the face of rapid growth, support resources for…

The paper uses data from the United States and several other industrialized nations to evaluate the costs of post-secondary education. Discussed are: variations on the concept of higher educational costs; three cost issues (how much higher education, the unit costs of higher education, and sharing the costs); higher education costs and social…