A major expense associated with litigating disputes under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) is the right of parents who succeed in suits against their school boards to recover attorney fees. Yet until recently, boards were generally unable to recover attorney fees from parents even when they succeeded in demonstrating that…

Using grid and group theory (Douglas 1982, 2011), the study described in this article examined the intersections of technology and school finance in four schools located in districts differing in size, wealth, and commitment to technology integration. In grid and group theory, grid refers to the degree to which policies and role prescriptions…

In many school districts, business managers--not superintendents--are the ones who deal with labor relations, negotiating or participating on the negotiations team. Business managers who oversee the human resources department may find themselves dealing with labor relations on a regular basis. In this article, the author discusses four labor…

If one speaks, writes, or otherwise communicates with an audience that does not hear, read, or understand, it is as if he/she did not communicate at all. Worse, members of the audience might take away a message that one never intended. Knowing and using the tools of communication effectively will help school business administrators keep themselves…

This article discusses the steady stream of litigation that emerged shortly after the Pledge of Allegiance was introduced in 1892. The constitutionality of requiring students to take part in its daily recitation in schools continues to be challenged. Parents who objected to the statute and the words "under God" in the pledge filed suit, alleging…

How much were school business officials paid during school year 2010-2011? How do their salaries compare with those of other administrators, with those of classroom teachers, and with increases in the cost of living? In this article, the authors provide school business officials with information to address these and related questions. The data…

The number of children (ages 3-21) in the United States designated as having a specific learning disability is over seven (7) million. Providing the programs, services and funding necessary to deliver appropriate programs and services to this special population is a challenge in virtually all school districts across the country. The role of school…

As an important cabinet-level position that reports directly to the superintendent and board of education, the school business official (SBO) often holds the second most powerful position in the district. Along with calls for fiscal and educational accountability, this elevated stature underscores the need for business officials to have leadership…

Since July 2007, members of the Association of School Business Officials of Maryland and the District of Columbia have been able to shop for school and curriculum-related supplies through the ASBO MD/DC Web-based shopping platform. This shopping platform comprises 35 catalogs with more than 450,000 line items offered by 225 vendors. ASBO MD/DC's…

Background: Return on investment (ROI) is one of the most popular evaluation metrics. ROI analysis (when applied correctly) is a powerful tool of evaluating existing information systems and making informed decisions on the acquisitions. However, practical use of the ROI is complicated by a number of uncertainties and controversies. The article…

How much were school business officials being paid during the 2009-2010 school year? How do their salaries compare with those of other administrators, with those of classroom teachers, and with increases in the cost of living? In this article, the authors provide school business officials with information to address these and related questions.…

This research investigates state finance policies for public elementary and secondary education using survey methodology. The purpose is to update the existing knowledge base in the field as well as to provide a compendium of finance and policy options that are being used across the states to finance school for lawmakers, educators and others.…

As colleges and universities are under increased pressure to demonstrate their effectiveness, leaders have come to rely on government relations personnel to adequately tell the story of the activities and needs of the campus. State governments typically are the largest single supplier of public institution funding, yet they have been challenged by…

This article is primarily methodological but has dual aims. First, it makes a case for Q methodology as an effective and so far little exploited means of capturing, comparing and contrasting individual perspectives on a specific question in the field of educational leadership. In common with other research approaches designed to uncover the…

This publication lists "non-classified" personal services recommendations of the Arkansas Higher Education Coordinating Board, and "classified" positions recommended by the Office of Personnel Management, Department of Finance and Administration for public institutions of higher education for the 2011-13 biennium. The Office of…