Improving the quality of public education is high on the policy agenda in Washington and in state capitals throughout the country. Despite disagreement over specific policies, policymakers appear to recognize that an important element in any plan to improve educational quality is the measurement of student performance. Here, it is argued that most…

This report presents an overview of the revised preschool funding formula under the 1997 amendments of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and perceptions of some state education agencies (SEA) staff on the initial impact of the funding changes. New features include a hold harmless base amount that is equal to the preschool grant…

The problem of allocating increasingly limited funds appropriately in higher education is discussed in an introductory manner. The article describes the development of an allocation process that was developed and used in a college of education in making allocations of library/media funds to departments and program.

Analyzes two new state funding programs for low-wealth and small-enrollment schools in North Carolina, compared with funding distribution provided under the already existing Basic Education Program. The distribution of low-wealth funds among counties is erratic, and the small-school funding program benefits some small-enrollment counties with…

The Madison, Perry, and Painesville Township school districts in northeastern Ohio pooled their resources and ran a joint tax levy campaign in 1990. The districts also developed a formula to distribute new tax revenues on an equalized per pupil basis. The Perry nuclear power plant was the key to the financing district's success. (MLH)

Recently, monies allocated to the additional educational needs (AEN) component of (Britain's) standard spending assessment (SSA) have decreased markedly. The strategy for determining the AEN weighting (to aid socially deprived and ethnic-minority students) is undermined by central-government spending constraints. Weighting should be determined by…

The decade from 1987 to 1997 saw two unsuccessful attempts to reform Illinois's school finance system from a constitutional perspective. In 1997, prospective reforms will probably be limited by partisanship, revenues and anti-tax sentiment, regional antipathies, fragmentation, and pressures for property tax relief. (MLH)

The 27 institutions damaged by hurricanes Katrina or Rita--there were 14 in Mississippi, 12 in Louisiana and one in Alabama--estimate their combined physical damages at $1.4 billion. But rather than providing aid, the Louisiana Legislature was forced to call for $77 million in cuts in November, leading to a wrenching gut-check on many campuses.…

Along with the efforts to increase the competitiveness of universities in Korea, one of the foci of higher education reforms initiated by the Korean government in 1995 was to diversify its higher education system. However, it is commonly believed that its attempts to diversify its universities system have not been successful. By examining the…

"Open Doors" is a long-standing, comprehensive information resource on over 565,000 international students in the United States in 2004/05 and on over 191,000 U.S. students who studied abroad for academic credit in 2003/04. The Institute of International Education, the largest and most experienced U.S. higher education exchange agency,…

This study is the sixth in a series of studies conducted by the American Association of School Administrators on the impact of the economic downturn on schools. AASA launched the series in fall 2008 in response to state budget shortfalls, federal buy-outs and interventions, and a series of additional events characterizing a slowing, stagnant…

School finance adequacy litigation has become a widely-used means in the efforts to improve educational outcomes for children. This form of litigation has been attempted in nearly every state over the past two decades. Despite its prevalence, its effectiveness remains questionable due to a lack of study relating finance litigation to student…

The goal of this study is to apply a conventional education cost-function approach for estimating the sensitivity of cost models and predicted education costs to the inclusion of school district level racial composition variables and further to test whether race neutral alternatives sufficiently capture the additional costs associated with school…

This paper presents the public higher education system trends in Connecticut for 2008. This report contains the following sections: (1) FY 2007-2009 Operating Budget Summary; (2) Higher Education in a Statewide Context; (3) General Fund and Operating Budget Expenditure Trends; (4) Comparative Funding Indicators; (5) Enrollment Trends; (6) Degrees…

Although 6 million adults in Britain are studying at any one time, survey findings confirm continuing underrepresentation of people in lower socioeconomic levels. This paper suggests that widened participation in education and training is necessary to improve competitiveness and economic success and to enable all to have an equal opportunity of…