Examines philosophical underpinnings of the proposed national mathematics assessment described in "America 2000," focusing on the tension between economic goals guiding this policy and the creation of the educational conditions required to improve African-American students' mathematics performance. The choice of a voluntary mathematics…

The Milwaukee Parental Choice Program (1990) permits 1,000 low-income students to attend private, nonsectarian schools that are paid $2,500 for each student enrolled. A lawsuit raised three state constitutional issues involving the state education clause, the public purpose doctrine, and the legislative process. This article analyzes the case and…

Critiques use of postmodernism in educational sociology. Analyzes the foundations of postmodern thought, differentiating among its aesthetic, philosophical, and sociological aspects. Examines contributions of Nietzsche and other nineteenth-century romantic conservatives. Postmodern educational thought misreads global educational trends and…

Technology is a tool that can support good teaching and well-managed schools. To assure taxpayers and parents that investments in educational technology are worthwhile, schools can emphasize access, focus on teaching, link it to reform, encourage research, and plan for the future. Lists Web sites for finding information about the effectiveness of…

Vermont's Equal Education Opportunity Act of 1997 will radically increase the proportion of state money designated for public education and transform the entire state taxation system. Spurred by a court decision invalidating the state's school finance system, Act 60 establishes a statewide property tax for a general state support grant, includes…

"Mock v. Kansas" (1991) determined that the state legislature is obligated to fund its schools so that each child receives an equal educational opportunity. Two major sources of funding variations (the local option budget and higher weightings for rural students) represent unjustified disparities based on politics (and spending) as…

Discusses research that addresses court decisions emerging during the third wave of school-finance litigation as related to children with special needs. Recent state supreme court decisions in Alabama, Wyoming, and Ohio address the constitutionality of the general and special-education finance systems. All systems were judged inequitable. Contains…

Uses school-level data to measure distribution of educational resources within districts, between districts, and among schools within the states, focusing on quantity (but not quality) of teachers allocated to students. Results confirm that school-level teacher-distribution inequalities exist both within and across districts. Implications are…

Uses data collected by the New York State Department of Education to examine effects of curriculum standards on student achievement (via estimation of a one-way fixed-effects model of the education-production function). Findings suggest that curriculum standards can improve student performance; they do little to improve equity. (Contains 23…

Describes how demographics, social, and economic forces of the 1990s altered the higher education operating environment. Provides policy context to examine the emergence of enrollment management in response to these forces. Improved economic conditions at the close of the 1990s presents institutions and lawmakers with opportunity to reform past…

Reviews four publications comprising a vivid testimony to current dilemmas and challenges facing reconstruction of Palestinian education. Critical policy issues have arisen concerning the broader meanings attached to educational resources and their relation to economic and civil opportunities. National-collective issues have eclipsed equity and…

Analyzes the design of French Socialist egalitarian education policy, highlighting the education system's organizational aspects, financial aspects, and size. The Socialist government's performance suggests that schooling structures tend toward great continuity, despite small victories for egalitarianism. Pressures from teacher unions and…

West Virginia has yet to satisfy its circuit and supreme courts, despite massive efforts to reform the K-12 system and its financial support plan. Reasons for failure include lack of statewide financial commitment to public education, a resistant cultural climate, downsizing of staff, decreasing enrollments, lack of consensus about educational…

Viewing equity as paramount, child advocates attempt to secure a just proportion of resources for children. Children need parents as individual advocates, given the lack of institutions to promote children's well-being. Parents are natural advocates, due to special knowledge about their children's needs, strong commitment to their success, and…

Educators will be challenged to teach students to use the Internet as critical consumers. There are numerous issues, including equity (due to income, educational level, gender, urban-rural setting, and age differences), connectivity, staff training, curriculum integration, and evaluation, that have profound implications for sustaining democratic…