Inadequate, deteriorating, old school buildings and facilities are a major concern in many school districts across the country. Studies have determined that students perform better and learn more in newer, cleaner facilities. For school districts to be able to afford new constructions or renovations, school bonds are often necessary. There are…

In the Spring of 2017, the National Charter School Resource Center, (NCSRC), the Colorado League of Charter Schools (the League) and the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools (the Alliance) collaborated to collect data and information about charter school facilities and facilities expenditures in the state of Colorado. The data collection…

The decision-making processes used by superintendents in times of economic crises are well documented. Little is known about how they respond/plan in times of economic gains. The purpose of this study is to explore how superintendents respond and plan for the future amidst the changes brought about by oil and gas development of the Eagle Ford…

Doing more with less is noble in public education. This is something quality public charter schools do well. It is also something, that cash-strapped rural and high need schools across Idaho know all too well themselves. It is well documented that all of public education in Idaho operates on leaner rations than do schools in most parts of the…

The purpose of this study is to bring together recent innovations in the research literature around school district capital facility finance, municipal bond elections, statistical models of conditional time-varying outcomes, and data mining algorithms for automated text mining of election ballot proposals to examine the factors that influence the…

Purpose: Across the United States, a large percentage of school districts are in need of facility improvements to provide safe and adequate buildings to facilitate student learning. To finance new construction, school districts traditionally have put proposals before local voters to fund construction through issuing long-term bonds to finance…

To formulate a "systems-based" plan to address the PK-12 infrastructure crisis, in 2016, the 21st Century School Fund (21CSF) and the University of California-Berkeley's Center for Cities + Schools (CC+S), in partnership with the National Council on School Facilities and the Center for Green Schools at the U.S. Green Building Council,…

These qualitative case studies give the prospective superintendent a real-life look at life on the other side of the district CEO's desk. Two dozen superintendents reflect upon their first challenges and growth opportunities that arose during that all-important first year. They tell it like it is, no sugar-coating. The experiences they listed, in…

Almost half of the states in the United States allow citizens to make educational policy through ballot issues, a mechanism of direct democracy. Yet, no study has attempted analyze the educational ballot issue landscape, meaning little systematic attention has been paid to this important and increasingly influential form of educational policy…

Purpose and Method of Study. The primary purpose of this quantitative study was to analyze the relationship between school district expenditures and student academic achievement in 102 public elementary school districts in the state of Oklahoma. The secondary purpose was to investigate the relationship between school district expenditures and…

The passage of a school bond can determine the direction of a district for many years to come (Faltys, 2006). Upkeep of older facilities and the building of new facilities can have an impact on instruction, teacher job satisfaction, student achievement, and perceptions toward the district (Moore, 2003). Despite the fact there is often state money…

Using Levin and McEwan's (2001) "ingredients method," this study identified the major activities and associated costs of school levy campaigns in five districts. The ingredients were divided into one of five cost categories--human resources, facilities, fees, marketing, and supplies. As to overall costs of the campaigns, estimates ranged…

Qualified school construction bonds (QSCBs) are part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. These bonds allow school districts to finance capital projects at no or very low interest rates. In a nutshell, bondholders accept a lower interest rate because the corresponding federal tax credit they receive subsidizes that lower interest…

This paper analyzes the impact of voter-approved school bond issues on school district balance sheets, local housing prices, and student achievement. We draw on the unique characteristics of California's system of school finance to obtain clean identification of bonds' causal effects, comparing districts in which school bond referenda passed or…

This study investigates parameters affecting the likelihood of passing school facility construction bonds by local district election. Using statewide data from Michigan, this study analyzes school bond data for urban (n = 30), suburban (n = 164), small town (n = 70), and rural (n = 241) school districts that held capital improvement bond elections…