Difficulty passing referenda to authorize school bonds necessary for important school capital purposes prompted New Jersey to enact legislation to authorize a school district to acquire a site and school building by lease purchase agreement. Advantages, disadvantages, and voter attitude are discussed. (MLF)

The House-approved version of the tax bill H.R. 3838 will increase borrowing costs to local and state governments. Educational costs will either increase or educational services will decrease. The House legislation also would treat all nontuition student aid as income and place a cap on pension funds. (MLF)

Offers guidelines to aid school districts in planning a sale of school construction bonds so as to minimize interest costs. (JG)

This comparative study involving four St. Paul-Minneapolis, Minnesota, metropolitan public school districts investigates strategies, non-strategic factors, and critical incidents thought to affect the outcome of school bond referenda. Results address what election strategies are most commonly used to affect the outcome of school bond referenda and…

This report examines the fate of general obligation (G.O.) bond measures in California from 1986 to 1999. For the entire 13-year period, the passage rate for local G.O. bonds averaged 54 percent. However, this average masks some dramatic variations depending on when the election was held, the district holding the election, and the area of…

A U.S. Senate committee hearing received testimony on the Indian School Construction Act, which would establish a bonding authority for leveraging existing tribal education funds through bonds to fund tribal school construction, maintenance, and repair. The testimony from U.S. senators and representatives of the Department of the Interior and…

A history of community involvement in the educational planning process reflects scrutiny of building projects, involvement in passage of bond issues and participation in the decision-making process. (KM)

Describes the building and financing of a new high school in New Lexington, Ohio, that is now a reality despite the fact that the omens for passage of a bond issue were not favorable. (Author/JH)

Discusses the California Supreme Court decision in Serrano v. Priest relating to the financing of local school systems through general property tax. (RJ)

Reports a Federally financed countywide project to identify the causes of public neglect of the schools and to list remedies. (Author)

In the Greenwich (New York) Central School District, after a complete engineering study determined the renovations needed, the superintendent and a citizens' committee sold the community on a bond issue to reroof four buildings with a silicone urethane system. The bonds will be paid back from savings on energy costs. (Author/MLF)

Presents case studies of school district's efforts to get a school construction bond passed. It reveals multiple-year work where the districts put politics to work and succeeded in securing funding for their students' futures. Fifteen organizational steps for successful bond passage are highlighted. (GR)

A poll of 1,933 voters in two counties that passed school bonds and two that did not examines voter perceptions toward school bonds. The factors linked to passage were that the number of students was growing, that most students would benefit, and that the dollar amount of the bond issue was reasonable. (SLD)

Lewiston-Porter is a suburban western New York district with 2,700 students and a history of budget and bond referenda defeats. This article describes the district's development and implementation of a school-community communication system. The multiple strategies and proactive involvement efforts changed community perspective and facilitated a…