This is an equity study, focusing on the crowdedness and adequacy of California's public school facilities. Facilities data are from a 1988 state survey and include information about building space, age of facilities, air conditioning, and construction type. The research focuses on two equity principles: horizontal equity and facilities…

A brief history of education in the state of North Carolina provides a look at public schools and the individuals who were most instrumental in their development. Chapter 1 focuses on the colonial period when education for the majority of North Carolina students was almost non-existent. Chapter 2 covers the State Constitution adopted in 1776 that…

The Foundation Program, revamped by the 1986 South Dakota legislative session, provides a method of determining the state aid support to school districts. In addition, state aid is provided for separate special education funding and for tuition incentive funding. The latter provides up to 3 years of state aid, both for contracting high school…

Traces shifts in national educational priorities. Argues that the current trend is toward reduced Federal guidance in the area of public education, and greater public support of private schooling. Contends that this trend is an ideological choice rather than a response to economic shifts. (FMW)

This study addresses the fiscal impacts of school choice in New Hampshire. The author uses one example from the 2003 New Hampshire legislative session to illustrate the fiscal impacts of school choice on New Hampshire and its communities. He develops a unique database of individual and household level responses from the 2000 Census of New…

More than 50 years ago, in Brown vs. Board of Education, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that sending children to separate schools solely on the basis of race was unconstitutional. Seven years prior, the Supreme Court ruled in Mendez vs. Westminster and the California Board of Education that Mexican American children could not be denied access…

This short paper discusses the advantages of and outlines key design issues for creating charter districts. The design issues are divided into three categories representing the three central elements of the environment the districts are trying to create for their schools: the opportunity to perform, incentives to perform, and capacity to perform.…

A study examined alternatives to retention or social promotion. Chapter 1 considers the short-term and long-term consequences of each alternative and concludes that neither improves declining graduation rates, declining ability to meet employer requirements, or the achievement gap between white students and students of color. Chapter 2 recommends…

Examines present lack of judicial restraint by analyzing "Missouri v. Jenkins," a case upholding a court-ordered tax increase to fund school desegregation. Maintains that elected representatives placate interest groups and abdicate power in favor of the courts when political decisions are unpopular. Questions the implications for future…

This paper explores the impact of school district organizational structure on the productivity of educational systems and describes the implementation in New York State of a collaborative study process involving school district reorganization. The case for organizing schools or districts into larger units is typically made on either efficiency or…

This theme issue includes four articles that focus on teaching and learning strategies to benefit all students, including limited-English-proficient, minority, economically disadvantaged, and at-risk students. "Would You Read Me a Story?: In Search of Reading Strategies That Work for the Early Childhood Classroom" (Hilaria Bauer)…

This court action, brought by taxpayers and parents of children attending schools in the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), asserts that the district unequally allocates instructional staff, facilities, and finances in a manner that discriminates against poor and minority students, in violation of the California Constitution. The…

The seminar brought together a group of professionals or professionally related educators to discuss the National Commission on Excellence in Education report, "A Nation at Risk: The Imperative for Reform," and its meaning to Alaska, a land of many contrasts not only in climate and vegetation but also in people and attitudes. The…

This report (based on testimony presented at a 1984 public hearing and a review of the literature on educational reform) addresses the role of equity in attaining effective public education, especially in Kentucky, by describing educational problems of that State. The basic premise is that excellence cannot be achieved without equity, and that…

A review of papers produced by the United States-Australia Education Policy Project identifies implications of Australia's educational policies and structures for U.S. educational policy in the areas of equality, diversity, professional development, and control or governance. In educational equality the author examines, first, fiscal equity,…