Districts around the country have been forced to reduce personnel and programs because sufficient funds are unavailable to maintain what are commonly referred to in education as "level service budgets." Perhaps it is time for school business officials (SBOs) to engage in serious conversations about whether K-12 public schools should place greater…

School business officials need to "know and show" that their operations are well managed. To do so, they ask themselves questions, such as "How are they doing? How do they compare with others? Are they making progress fast enough? Are they using the best practices?" Using key performance indicators (KPIs) and benchmarking as regular parts of their…

In what may come to rank as one of its most significant cases on religious freedom, "Christian Legal Society v. Martinez" (2010), the Supreme Court affirmed an order of the Ninth Circuit upholding a policy at a public law school in California that required recognized student clubs to admit "all comers" even if they disagreed with organizational…

AIM Academy of Conshohocken, Pennsylvania is a K-12 school modeled after the Lab School of Washington. AIM promises its 200 students and their parents a unique and innovative learning environment. Applying the latest techniques proven to help children who learn differently, AIM Academy taps into students' talents in ways that are both fully…

A year ago, only a handful of K-12 schools and universities had integrated tablets into their curricula. Today, not one week passes with out another iPad rollout announcement. The reasons that schools use tablets are as varied as the schools themselves. Hawaii Preparatory Academy uses iPads to encourage budding physicists, linguists, and…

The costs associated with education outpace inflation every year, more than doubling it over the past 20 years. The latest data from the National Center for Education Statistics calculate that school expenditures from all funding sources topped $400 billion for the 2006-2007 school year. Only 3% of these expenditures are earmarked for…

Attracting, developing, and retaining employees, ensuring a pipeline of qualified people, and building a culture of engagement and productivity are important to the success of any organization. It is called "talent management." With the right technology support, talent management's real value is that it allows organizations to identify high…

Every year, K-12 facilities waste millions of dollars in excess energy consumption. Those dollars may take the form of lost heat through walls, windows, doors, and roofs. Or the villain may be poorly conceived or mismanaged control systems. Those excess funds that districts are sending to the local utility companies could be invested "at home" to…

Online learning made its debut in higher education, but now it's changing the face of K-12 education. According to the marketing research firm Ambient Insight, roughly 1.75 million K-12 students in the United States are enrolled in at least one online course. Although much of the online learning growth in K-12 first occurred in virtual charter…

The U.S. Supreme Court's recent decisions in cases involving school districts in Seattle, Washington, and Louisville, Kentucky, seem to indicate that the United States is moving away from diversity in its public schools. In "Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1" (2007) and "Meredith v. Jefferson…

The Supreme Court has played a crucial role in shaping education over ASBO International's first century of existence. Accordingly, this column, the first of two on the Supreme Court and education, inaugurates ASBO's centennial year with a retrospective look at key cases that were litigated in K-12 school settings around the issue of equal…

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) is likely the greatest single infusion of federal dollars into education since Congress passed the Elementary and Secondary Education Act in 1965 during Lyndon Johnson's presidency. When President Johnson signed that act, he said its purpose was to give every child in America "all the…

Describes process of selecting digital imaging software that is user-friendly and needs-appropriate. Includes a table listing the names, prices, and contact information (websites and 800 numbers) of nine digital software packages, including a summary of their major features. (PKP)

Uses question-and-answer format to discuss whether employer contributions to 403(b)(7) custodial mutual-fund accounts subject employer to the reporting and disclosure requirements of Title I of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA). Also discusses the self-correction of excess contributions to a 403(b) program per the Internal…

Describes school facilities preventive-maintenance procedures. Includes sample preventive maintenance program and suggestions for prioritizing preventive-maintenance procedures. (PKP)