Compromise in any context is often hard to accept. It feels like a person is giving up on his or her ideals. This is especially true in dealing with politics. Legislative and congressional bills can be written with the highest of ideals in mind. By the time the bill progresses through committees and the floor debate process, it can look like a…

Legislated change in rural schools districts may be slow and painful. This paper describes the ambience of a rural Texas K-12 school through the eyes of a new science teacher with northern and urban education experience and through the observations of an outside researcher. Attitudes that learning is not important, that hard subjects need not be…

The purpose of this study was to examine contributing factors influencing superintendent tenure among Texas public school superintendents. The results of the Cox Regression analysis revealed that strained relationships with the school board president, not being able to get decisions made at the Board level, and superintendent/school board…

School district administrator openings are occurring across Texas and many other states at an increasing rate. The high rate of turnover in the superintendency has become a national problem. Texas was chosen for the study due to the total number of school districts in the state and the high percent of rural districts. The other selected states,…

The purpose of this study was to compare the perceptions of Texas Public School superintendents and school board presidents on the importance of leadership characteristics of the superintendency. The questionnaire used in this study was developed by Dr. Douglas D. Wilson and modified by the researcher. Responses to a Likert Scale instrument and…

The Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) follows education budgets and legislation during regular and special legislative sessions. Current actions are found in Legislative Reports that are released on a timely basis during the months that SREB state legislatures are in session, usually from January through July. These reports follow education…

In February 2005, The Dallas Morning News published a multipart series on steroid use among high school students in Texas. The paper's four-month investigation was wide-ranging, but shined a particular spotlight upon alleged abuses in the 13,700-student Grapevine-Colleyville Independent School District, north of Dallas. Use of steroids and other…

This booklet examines the liability of school board members in light of the United States Supreme Court ruling in Wood v. Strickland and the provisions of Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. It was prepared specifically to inform Texas school board members of their legal rights and responsibilities; however, since Texas government officials…

This booklet consists of seven articles intended to introduce new school board members in Texas to the formation and implementation of educational policy, with particular emphasis on the legal requirements governing policy-making and other school board activities. The articles include the following: "Policy Development: An Overview," by…

Texas education's tradition of local school board autonomy is rapidly vanishing as the state takes tight control of public education, with reforms in the areas of curriculum, school management, teachers, school finance, and administration. The implementation of state mandates will now be the primary function of school boards. (DCS)

Parent involvement is widely acknowledged as a central component in both overall school success and the academic success of individual children. Recognizing this, the federal No Child Left Behind Act mandates that states, districts and schools make extraordinary efforts to enhance effective parent involvement. Now, more than six years after the…

As demands for accountability are heightened and job expectations become increasingly unrealistic, people are less interested in entering the superintendency or staying in it if they already have it. This study explored motivators and inhibitors that contribute to a person's decision to become a superintendent and remain in the superintendency. Of…

A questionnaire survey of 180 Texas school district superintendents sought to determine both their perceptions of how community power structures influenced school board decisions and their techniques for communicating with their local power structure. The study analyzed four power structure types--monopolistic, multigroup noncompetitive,…

This article reports on ethics issues involving school leaders. Some superintendents have landed in murky ethical waters for their ties to for-profit companies, highlighting the temptations administrators face as industry and education increasingly intersect. Some questionable judgments by superintendents--from accepting company-paid trips to…

Texas has goals, guidelines, and policies to help school districts develop citizenship education programs. (Author)