Agricultural education's most pressing issue is a lack of qualified classroom teachers. In 2020-2021, 30 states reported the loss of over 70 agricultural education positions, with many schools closing these positions due to inadequate staffing. Furthermore, in 2021-2022, there were 1,680 agricultural education vacancies nationwide and only 789…

On February 24, 2017, all of the authors of the state-of-the-state manuscripts published in the "Journal of Education Finance" met in Cincinnati, Ohio, to participate in a roundtable discussion focused on recent legislative actions in 38 states. A majority of those papers were revised to reflect a final report on legislative actions…

Public school districts are facing twin challenges: maintaining a labor supply of qualified teachers while shoring up the deteriorating system that compensates them. Keeping public-school teachers' pensions plans flush is expensive, and it accounts for a growing share of education spending. In some states, public charter schools provide an…

The purpose of this study was to identify selected characteristics of current Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI) members in Florida and then compare the results between Florida and non-Florida institutes. This study was primarily quantitative and employed the Demographic and Behavioral Trends Survey (DBTS) with the addition of four…

The U.S. teacher pension system is in major financial trouble, with almost $390 billion in unfunded liabilities, according to a recent report from the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ). And funding shortfalls grew in all but seven states between 2009 and 2012, the nonprofit research and policy group found. Though the current economic…

Since 2002, public school teachers in Florida have been permitted to choose between a defined benefit (DB) and a defined contribution (DC) retirement plan. We exploit this unique policy environment to study new teachers' revealed preferences over pension plan structures. Roughly 30 percent of teachers hired between 2003 and 2008 selected the DC…

Older blacks migrated to nonmetropolitan (nonmetro) communities in the 1990s to a degree not true of the past. Some of the nonmetro counties that attracted them are well-known retirement areas also favored by other retirees, mostly whites. Two-thirds of black retirement counties, however, are areas in the Old South that are not attracting other…

Those following recent employment trends have heard about the nursing shortage. A combination of increased demand and impending retirements means 1 million nurses will be needed in hospitals, homes, and medical facilities by 2018. That's good news for job seekers. But it is not just shortages in nursing. Allied health careers, including…

This study examined how a group of community college presidents and board of trustee chairpersons from New York and Florida viewed the competencies, characteristics, and professional skills identified by the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) (2005) as important for effective community college leadership. In addition, the presidents…

Purpose: This brief report takes a look at the preliminary estimates of the number and proportion of migrants over the age of 60 who moved to and from states between 1995 and 2000 and compares these estimates with those who made the same kind of move one decade earlier. Design and Methods: The 2000 census 1-in-100 public-use microdata sample,…

Disability carries negative social meaning, and little is known about when (or if), in the process of health decline, persons identify themselves as "disabled." We examine the social and health criteria that older adults use to subjectively rate their own disability status. Using a panel study of older adults (ages 72+), we estimate…

In 2002, public safety professionals in California developed a unique, groundbreaking curriculum targeting an audience of in-service, pre-supervisory, professionals from all three major public safety disciplines--corrections, law enforcement, and fire. This article features the California Public Safety Leadership & Ethics Program (CPSLEP), a…