Professional development has become so valuable that even Boston Public Schools has created its own in-house professional development institutions to develop management skills among staff. And the Association of School Business Officers International will launch a new certification program for school business officials next fall. It is designed in…

Over the last 18 months, school district purchasing offices across the country have been tightening the reins like never before while more top-level administrators get involved in the budget process. "When the economy really hit the skids, states got hit hard, so a lot of school districts were forced to make severe budget cuts," says John Musso,…