This chapter offers time-tested advice for new presidents, including how to build and maintain strong relationships with trustees, how to address the persistent concerns of student success and remediation, and how to access the college's economic condition as well as how to oversee and maintain strong funding channels.

In response to concerns over funding for school construction, the state of Texas has implemented two programs to assist school districts with construction-related debt. This paper examines whether these programs have accomplished their objectives of reducing property taxes (the Existing Debt Allotment (EDA) program) and increasing capital outlays…

The U.S. District Court ruling in Rodriguez vs San Antonio Independent School District, which struck down Texas' school finance system as inequitable and unconstitutional, provided the impetus for publishing this interim report. The report documents the growing cost of State-supported public school programs--the primary concern prior to the…

On October 2, 1989, the Texas Supreme Court, in the "Edgewood v. Kirby" decision, found the current school-finance system unconstitutional. The evolution of this decision, through its early origins, the establishment of the current structure (1949-81), House Bill 72 (1984), and Senate Bill 1019 (1989), is described. Also described are…

Issues in public school finance are discussed in this research monograph, with an emphasis on Texas. Chapter 1 provides a national historical overview, examining the changing definition of equality. The second chapter examines equity challenges in the courts, specifically, two major types of constitutional issues: (1) equal protection clauses of…

This paper describes funding formulas for the new Foundation School Program in Texas enacted under the Education Opportunity Act (H.B. 72), raises issues that have accompanied its first year of implementation, and provides preliminary data to compare prior and existing law. The state finance system, which previously distributed state aid according…

Just 1 day before a court-imposed deadline of June 1, 1993, Texas Governor Ann Richards signed into law Senate Bill 7 (S.B. 7), the newest version of the Texas school finance system. This paper describes the state's new school finance system with regard to the following: (1) its constitutionality; (2) the provision of a system that equalizes…

The purpose of this monograph is to stimulate discussion of vertical equity through an assessment of the funding systems in four states (California, New York, Texas, and Wisconsin) that ascertains how and to what extent at-risk factors are addressed. (In education, children defined as at risk of low academic achievement or of dropping out…