Describes four approaches to cost cutting that are offered to stimulate thinking in the direction of thrift: manage class size in the interests of both learning and economy; spend less for salaries; eliminate irrelevant goals, activities, and arrangements; and reconsider building needs and use. (Author/IRT)

For 50 years, large-scale educational achievement testing in the United States was dominated by a (low-cost) multiple-choice assessment strategy. The problem is finding adequate financial resources to support constructed-response methods used in authentic or performance testing. Matrix sampling, featuring low-proportion sampling of both students…

After discussing the energy crisis and the fiscal problems it is creating for education, the author suggests several steps that can be taken to cut down energy costs, including performing a comprehensive energy audit, considering life-cycle costing in the purchase of equipment, and purchasing energy-efficient equipment. (IRT)

Explains numerous reasons for ever-increasing school costs, including court decisions involving busing, private school aid, education of illegal aliens' children, bilingual and second-language programs, and use of school facilities. Federal and state legislation and regulations and societal demands (for afterschool care and security systems) have…