To have an efficiently functioning school district, the roles of the school board and the administration must be clearly delineated, so that the school board formulates school policy while the superintendent implements it. To avoid dissention over their respective spheres of authority, it is best for a superintendent to establish two-way…

The school board of the Maine Township High School District in Cook County, Illinois, negotiated a collective bargaining agreement with the local teachers' association independently of the teachers' employment contract. The board's negotiating team consists of five persons: three board members experienced in negotiations, of whom one is the…

Boards of education often feel that consultants are high-priced or of questionable quality; however, reasonably priced, highly competent consultants are available. Some issues facing school districts can best be approached using the specialized talents and objectivity available only from consultants. When a school board has decided that it needs a…

One of the biggest errors that boards of education make in collective bargaining concerns the selection of their bargaining team. A negotiator should be used who knows labor law, understands the educational process and its common practices, and is knowledgeable about school law. In addition to the negotiator, who should be the spokesman, the…

The literature on collective bargaining in public education typically argues whether such bargaining is good public policy or bad, sound or unsound, and so forth. No studies to date have measured the actual impact of differing kinds of collective bargaining legislation on local school boards' decisionmaking powers. This study examined whether two…

This document suggests how state boards of education can get a fair share of block grant monies from the Education Consolidation and Improvement Act of 1981. States' decisions regarding distribution of block grant monies involve three significant characteristics: (1) almost all states keep 20 percent of the grant (the maximum allowed) at the state…

This paper argues that school boards give away too much in contract negotiations with teacher associations without making sure the concessions they make result in higher educational quality. Educational administrators' general lack of expertise in labor relations, the author maintains, tends to lead to low quality contracts. Reviewing 11 articles…

This report suggests that state boards of education are best able to make budgetary cuts after consulting professional staff, identifying basic educational objectives and goals, and determining which programs contribute most to the largest number of students. A board's decisions are facilitated by such legislation as Utah's Special Purpose…

Principals are middle managers. Board members should have a superintendent who has a high regard for the principalship and who believes in the total team approach to school administration. They should allow principals to do the job they were hired to do--parental or citizen complaints should be referred to the principal instead of being personally…

A partnership involving eight rural school districts in Indiana developed out of the need for a cooperative services organization to communicate with its school board members. A Joint Services Cooperative Committee composed of one or two school board members from each district visits classes, reviews program policies, and keeps fellow board…

Educators are faced with policy development issues that will allow children with AIDS to be educated, provide AIDS education in the schools, and educate groups whose lack of information may cause difficulties for educators trying to implement these policies. This paper provides guidelines for development of a HIV/AIDS policy. The premises of…

School board members from 50 states have in common the United States Constitution and the legal principles announced by the federal courts in response to that Constitution. New board members are usually concerned with the rights of teachers, parents, and students. Starting with student rights, student conduct that involves freedom of expression…

This study examines local, ongoing inservice practices and programs for school board members in Pennsylvania in order to devise a program that local districts can adapt or adopt in response to their own needs. Following a brief introduction, a summary describes how data for the study were gathered by means of a series of interviews and…

Grievance procedures must be fast and fair to satisfy everyone and to disrupt the normal workflow as little as possible. The following factors help make for effective procedures: (1) binding arbitration, because it is orderly and unbiased; (2) contributions to contract language by the contract administrators; (3) absolute honesty about contract…

The "management of crisis," as opposed to crisis management," requires prior planning. Boards of education that habitually practice courtesy and have some knowledge of group dynamics do not create controversy by their own actions and will have fewer controversial meetings to manage. Policymakers should know ahead of time what issues are likely to…