Charter school boards enter into a critical bargain: autonomy for accountability. Compared with their traditional district counterparts, they operate with relative freedom in curriculum, hiring, budgeting, and other operational decisions. In exchange, they are held accountable for student performance in ways that traditional district schools are…

Mayoral control of public schools is nothing new. Boston pioneered the practice in 1992, replacing elected school committee members with mayoral appointees. Since then, a dozen urban districts--including Cleveland, Chicago, New York City, and Washington, D.C.--have undergone a similar change in school governance that has shifted some or most of…

Examines New Jersey school boards and investigates what factors affect whether boards operate according to a professional or political model and whether professional and political boards differ in their governance role. The majority of school boards adopt the professional orientation. However, board influence depends primarily on board acceptance…

Recent high school reform efforts strongly recommend that schools model democratic principles and give students, teachers, parents, and community members a significant role in school governance and the decision-making process. Specific recommendations include the creation of site-based decision-making councils, student leadership forums, and…

A study was undertaken of the patterns of governance and coordination of higher education in six states: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Mississippi, and New Jersey. The purpose of the study was to develop an overview of the variety of methods used and to draw analyses of commonalities and differences among them. While the trend has been…

By New Jersey law, school boards are required to develop written policies governing their operations as a public body and the operation of the school district. This guide is intended to give board members and administrators a working knowledge of the policy process in local school district governance. Provided are background information,…

Designed to tell the school board member what New Jersey school law requires and permits, this second edition of "Basic School Law" avoids exploring the complex legal issues that gave rise to the regulations discussed. Dropping the first edition's chapter on labor law, this edition adds material on the sunshine laws regarding the conduct…

Since 1994, New Jersey's higher education system has been under a new governance system created by the Higher Education Restructuring Act. The act declares that eliminating unnecessary state oversight will spur institutional creativity and innovation and that placing greater decision making and accountability at the institutional level will better…

New Jersey's Higher Education Restructuring Act of 1994 expands and codifies certain authorities of trustee boards, creates a statewide coordinating board called the New Jersey Commission on Higher Education, and creates the Presidents' Council which consists of the presidents of the 46 institutions of higher education which receive state funding.…

Evaluating the chief school administrator's performance is one of the most important responsibilities of a board of education. In New Jersey, established guidelines for board evaluations of superintendents range from legal to procedural in the attempt to meet school district goals and objectives and to assess whether the superintendency fulfilled…

In Greenwich now for 3 years, Larry Leverett is making the transition from a career in urban schools to educational leadership in a suburban environment. This chapter describes his recruitment to the position, his personal struggle about leaving urban for suburban education, his adaptation to Greenwich, and the surprises, controversies, and…

Surveys, interviews, and literature reviews were conducted to provide data upon which the Commission to Study the Mission, Financing, and Governance of the County Colleges in New Jersey could base its recommendations. The following areas were investigated: (1) composition of the trustee boards of the colleges and effective methods of selecting…