"Straight A's: Public Education Policy and Progress" is a biweekly newsletter that focuses on education news and events both in Washington, DC and around the country. The following articles are included in this issue: (1) State of the Union Preview: In Email to Supporters, Obama Highlights Economy and Jobs, Education, Deficit Reduction, and…

"Straight A's: Public Education Policy and Progress" is a biweekly newsletter that focuses on education news and events both in Washington, DC and around the country. The following articles are included in this issue: (1) Standard Response: Senate HELP Committee Chairman and Top Republican Agree that Standards Movement Needs to Be Led by States,…

In contrast to traditional public administration in which public managers were responsible for meeting service targets set by politicians (e.g. a top-down, bureaucratic approach) and new public management (a more market-driven approach to public service provision that aimed to reduce the reach of government), public value aims to put the…

The major purpose of these hearings was to assess the reasons for the increase in the poverty rate, from 11.4 percent in 1978 to 15 percent in 1983. Topics examined included (1) the relation of the increase to the recession, demographic trends, budget reductions, and the 10-year decline in the real level of public assistance benefits; (2) the…

Despite pressures for reducing the overall spending of the federal government, some policymakers and analysts have considered increasing the funding for particular areas that might be especially important to the long-term growth of the economy. Increases have been proposed in spending for highways and other types of physical infrastructure, for…

In 1991 the Federal Government initiated the multiagency High Performance Computing and Communications program (HPCC) to further the development of U.S. supercomputer technology and high-speed computer network technology. This overview by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) concentrates on obstacles that might prevent the growth of the…

Prospects for financing educational reform in West Virginia are grim. Added to the state's high unemployment rate are the following problems: declining sales, income, and property tax revenues and erosion of federal support due to Gramm-Rudman-Hollings. Residents have set other priorities for public funding. Includes five references. (MLH)

This report, prepared by the Office of Technological Assessment (OTA) in response to a request from the House Committee on the Judiciary, examines the rapid and complex technological changes and trends in computer software technologies and their possible effects on the nation's intellectual property system. The three policy issues identified are:…

Discusses the basic economic changes and previous conservative policies that have resulted in the increase of homelessness and the decrease in the supply of affordable housing. Argues that the solution to homelessness lies with federally funded, nonprofit housing in various forms. (FMW)

Changes in the American economy and in the nature and organization of work fundamentally challenge the educational system and have implications for the Federal Government's role. Case studies of the insurance, banking, and textile industries demonstrate the following changes in the nature and structure of work: (1) both service and manufacturing…

Two areas which will have far reaching consequences for the future of United States agriculture are discussed: (1) biotechnology; and (2) critical economic research in world trade and commodity supply management. Topics in the first area include: controversies related to biotechnology; the relative importance of health, safety, and environmental…

The Select Committee on Children, Youth, and Families of the House of Representatives, 100th Congress, held a hearing to review financial pressures likely to confront American families in the future. Experts' testimony first focused on: (1) recent trends in the economic status of children; (2) the issue of whether the growth of the service sector…

In much of the developing world, research environments are in many ways the same--burdened by the same weight of colonial dependency, underfinanced, and with products undervalued and underutilized. The primary purpose of this book is to analyze such environments for the sake of assessing whether and how they might be changed to enhance national…

This paper assesses the youth employment situation from a policymaking perspective. The first of three main sections provides a largely statistical overview of the current youth labor market. The 1980s recession is said to be a depression for youth, especially minority youth. Increases in teenage unemployment are documented, and asserted to be the…

Argues that government financing of basic research has failed to keep pace with rising research costs, especially for the funding of university laboratories in many countries. Urges that new sources of funding be sought and that a more flexible structure for allocating resources be established. (TW)