This chapter addresses cases reported in 1982 involving aspects of school board governance. Topics covered include powers of state boards of education; powers and duties of local boards; open meeting laws; school boards and conflicts of interest; school district and board members' election, appointment, and recall; school district organization;…

School board members are entrusted by taxpayers to establish and maintain quality in their school systems. Unfortunately, most board members lack the experience or training necessary to face a wide range of new and daunting challenges. This book was designed to help school administrators and board members understand the principles of Total Quality…

The percentage of women in the superintendency remained stagnant over 80 years of the last century and has only increased slightly, to just fewer than 14% of the public school superintendents in the U.S. today. In other words, the glass ceiling still exists. The persistent reasons for lack of change are gender prejudice and gender…

This book will empower everyone who works in education to build more support in Congress and state legislatures. It is full of personal anecdotes that illuminate successes, failures, and examples that teach from real-life experience. "Empowering School Leaders" is tailored for educators and designed to show them how to increase their political…

School-related statutes and applicable court decisions in Illinois are presented in a question/answer format followed by legal citations. The following topics are discussed in 27 chapters: (1) Control of Illinois Public Schools; (2) School Boards; (3) School Board Membership; (4) School Election Procedures; (5) School Board Officers; (6) School…

A school district's board of education is a governing body that has the responsibility of creating vision and direction, setting policy, providing resources, and monitoring the results of student achievement initiatives for its district. The board and superintendent must work together as a leadership team for the district, modeling to the staff…

This volume, a third edition updated and expanded from the two previous editions, is an introduction to the essentials of school law in New Jersey and a reference tool for readers experienced in educational law. Chapter 1 focuses on the legal structure of New Jersey public education, addressing such primary issues as the flow of authority to…

"Education officials need to furnish leadership in school elections.... An unsuccessful election reduces educational opportunities for students" (Kimbrough and Nunnery, 1971, p. 4). Who can argue with this simple statement? Providing effective leadership, however, is not that easy. Research and practice have yet to yield an election formula that…

This guidebook is intended to help school boards focus their efforts on understanding and achieving the elements of their key work. Chapter 1 discusses the concept of systems thinking as a framework for organizational thinking and learning. It also provides an overview of the key work of improving student achievement. This work focuses on eight…

Board members' role in technology implementation ranges from prompting development of technology plans to gathering community support for funding technology initiatives; they need substantial knowledge to enable them to ask the right questions, absorb new information, make good decisions, set appropriate policies, and lead confidently as…

Pursuing and obtaining a superintendency is more complicated than any other educational employment process. School board members are intensely involved. Outside search consultants serve as power brokers. Long-standing biases are often built into the process. This book demonstrates how to navigate this challenging terrain by providing an…

This book is an easy-to-use guide for school boards in how to use data intelligently when evaluating student achievement, educational improvement, and school accountability. Its purpose is to encourage school boards to use data as a basis for their decision-making instead of speculation, perception, or limited observation. Board members can learn…

This comprehensive reference reviews court decisions affecting the operation, management, and governance of public schools. This edition analyzes all public school cases decided during the 1982 calendar years and reported in West's Regional, Federal, and Supreme Court Resports, through the December 1982 advance sheets. Included as well are 1981…

This book was designed to help school administrators, board members, and teachers improve effectiveness and cooperation at the bargaining table. It charts the history of collective bargaining and discusses changes now taking place in education that will likely affect negotiations. Following the overview of collective-bargaining history in chapter…

Intended as a practical legal guide for Texas educators and lawyers, this book contains three major sections dealing with several chapters on various school law topics, each prepared by Texas attorneys. Section 1, "School Boards and Superintendents," includes chapters on school board members authority and relationship with staff, the…