Historically, private education has been an option mostly for families who could afford the cost or received financial help. Years of research have shown that many families would choose private schools and other educational resources for their children if they did not face insurmountable financial or geographical limitations. Private educational…

This dissertation examines the legal literacy of school administrators and the lack of mandated training regarding school law, specific to the First Amendment. With continual changes in education school administrators can function as the change agent for schools through the lens of self-efficacy. This dissertation is organized into three bodies of…

Illinois K-12 public school funding has long been characterized by large inter-district disparities in per-pupil expenditures. A primary reason for this characterization was the Illinois legislature's heavy reliance on local property tax within the various school funding formulas historically used to determine school revenues. The heavy reliance…

Many Americans are familiar with the First Amendment, but its application to prayer and religious activities in public schools is often misunderstood. Religious beliefs are increasingly diverse in the United States. Therefore, it seems imperative that school personnel are aware of the law and sensitive to an array of religious practices. We…

This article provides an overview of non-religion-based state constitutional challenges to educational voucher and tax credit/scholarship programs. The first section discusses litigation examining whether education voucher programs violate constitutional provisions requiring the legislature to provide an efficient system of public schools. The…

This paper explores treatment effects in three different contexts: an extended school year pilot program in an urban school district, a library summer reading program serving twenty-one urban school districts, and states passing the Equal Rights Amendment during the 1970s and 1980s. Estimates generated using two years of intervention data along…