Based on three western school districts' financial failure, this article discusses signs of trouble (overspending patterns, overoptimism about district resources, inadequate financial controls, a breakdown in business operations, inattention to audits, out-of-control personnel practices, and insufficient planning) and discusses ameliorative…

Some board members may not have considered whether e-mail is subject to state statutes ensuring that public business is done publicly. E-mail has great potential for exposing a district to liability. Sample open-meeting and/or public-record laws from several states, including California, Florida, and Virginia, are discussed. (MLH)

Financial planning is the key to providing a high-quality instructional plan. A 5-year financial plan is typically updated by looking at district financial history, future instructional plans, staffing requirements, and revenue projections. Planning assumptions must be clearly understood by the financial team and the community. (MLH)

This combination report/guide summarizes practical "how-to" information on the development and operation of national training boards that was gathered in a series of case studies of the effectiveness of national training boards in Canada, Singapore, Sweden, and the United Kingdom and in studies of training boards in Australia, Brazil,…

The recommendations presented in this document concern which instructional materials should be adopted in the bilingual language arts and visual and performing arts in the State of California. Each of the instructional programs, both those recommended for adoption and those not recommended, are described at length with the rationale for the…

This booklet sets forth the responsibilities and challenges facing Illinois school board members. As the first section on general responsibilities shows, the school board takes action only as a body and speaks only through the written record of its meetings. Individual members lack the authority to commit the school board to a particular action,…

In September 1988, seven pilot school boards in Dumfries and Galloway Region, Scotland, met for the first time. The pilot scheme sought to learn about the functioning of school boards before they came into statutory existence in the 1989-90 school year. The seven schools represented a cross-section of Regional schools and ranged from a one-teacher…

A teacher discusses the transition from building-level autonomy to unilateral decision making by the central office in her school district. She points out how this change became a step backward for the school. (MD)

Violence and the fear of violence are taking an unacceptable toll on the lives and educations of young people in this country. The effects of violence on both individual students and on the learning environment can be devastating. The National Association of State Boards of Education Study Group framed recommendations for attacking this epidemic…

This issue paper is the first in a series commissioned by the Education Commission of the States on issues relating to superintendent and school-board leadership. The study from which this paper derives builds on earlier studies that focused on characteristics and demographics of the superintendency, and on the status of relations and functions of…

This report studies the combined impact of Michigan's two school-choice policies: charter schools, known as "Public School Academies," and interdistrict student transfers. The report examines geographical patterns of school-choice participation among the state's school districts, and investigates how schools and districts have responded…

So far the courts have supported most schools' zero-tolerance policies--even those banning toy weapons, over-the-counter drugs, and unseemly conduct. However, wide-ranging get-tough policies can draw criticism. Policy experts advise school boards to ask the community, decide what people want, allow some wiggle room, create an appeals process,…

During negotiations, board members must face certain realities, including the leveling effects of collective bargaining, the predominance of group over individual teacher needs, the importance of sophisticated skills, and the adversarial, emotional nature of negotiating. The board negotiating team must seek an agreement beneficial to both parties…

A comprehensive inventory of formal staff development activity and costs for 30 California school districts yields a portrait of locally organized opportunities for teachers and reveals the policy stance taken by districts toward teachers and their professional development. (TJH)

Argues that school boards were introduced and retained during the 19 foundational years of state education in New South Wales, Australia, not as token partners or mere money-raisers, but as integral parts of the school system. The successes of local participation in frontier conditions were sufficient to justify the board's encouragement of local…