Charter schools are publicly-funded educational entities that operate independently from local school districts and are exempt from certain state and local requirements, particularly with regard to teacher personnel policy. In exchange for this flexibility, charter schools are held more accountable for results and may be shut down if they fail to…

Three Illinois community college chairs were selected to participate in this study, which examined the challenges faced by community college board chairs. In Illinois, the chair is an elected official, who has been selected by her or his fellow trustees to fulfill a statutory obligation and to serve the college in a leadership position. The author…

This article reports on a study of Illinois school board presidents' perspectives on teacher tenure. It begins with an historical overview of the development of teacher tenure from its roots in the 1880s civil service legislation through the establishment of teacher tenure in the United States to an examination of current teacher tenure laws and…

The results of a survey of 55 Illinois school districts which had experienced declining enrollment and surplus school space are reported in this paper. All 55 districts had closed at least one school as a result of enrollment decline, resulting in a total of 89 school closures. The two most important criteria for selecting the schools to be closed…

A history of the Board of Governors of State Colleges and Universities in Illinois is presented. Nine sections are as follows: governance in higher education (the distant and recent past and roles and responsibilities of governing boards); the context of higher education in Illinois; the board of governors of state colleges and universities:…