After years of non-stop increases--national k-12 per-pupil spending is up by "one-third" in inflation-adjusted dollars since 1995--schools now face the near-certainty of repeated annual budget cuts for the first time since the Great Depression. In some states and districts, reductions will be dramatic--well into the double digits. And…

"Straight A's: Public Education Policy and Progress" is a biweekly newsletter that focuses on education news and events both in Washington, DC and around the country. The following articles are included in this issue: (1) Duncan Makes $44 Billion in Education Funding Available to States: Education Secretary Says Stimulus Money Must Go…

A study examined effects of early retirement plans (ERP) at Canadian Universities. In response to current conditions within Canadian universities and a Canadian Supreme Court decision upholding mandatory retirement requirements, many universities have sought to encourage faculty retirement through ERPs. In order to study the cost of such programs,…

To offset declining enrollments, financial constraints, younger faculties, and high tenure ratios, some institutions are considering early retirement programs to facilitate faculty turnover. A University of Virginia faculty committee reviewed several early retirement options and selected a cost-effective bridging program with ample incentives and…

Between April 29 and December 31, 1982, 244 community college employees in Washington retired. Of that group, 85 exercised an option to retire under a special early retirement program enacted by the 1982 state legislature. The net effect of the early retirement program was a 53.4% increase in the number of retirements over the number that might…

The challenge facing school finance is how to harness the school-finance system to the fundamental purpose of education: to improve learning for all students. The challenge is posed by political demands for better school performance and accountability, and by court rulings that tie school funding to standards of adequacy. This paper examines four…

Retirement plans and concerns of tenured faculty 40 years old and older were evaluated in 1979. For the sample of 26 member institutions of the Consortium on Financing Higher Education, 1,193 faculty members returned usable questionnaires. The evaluation focused on the following: characteristics of the faculty respondents, current circumstances…

Proceedings of a 1980 Brown University conference on faculty retirement are presented. Papers and authors are as follows: "A Review of Current Legal Status and National Policy Issues" (Laura C. Ford); "Mandatory Retirement Age Legislation for Tenured Faculty: The Policy Issues and Their Context" (W. Lee Hansen);…

How schools weather budget reductions shows the difference between effective and less effective school systems. Policymakers' response to reductions depends on an array of factors: general economic conditions, access to data about future trends, community expectations and "myths," past records of school effectiveness, local education…

To meet the expectations of students, parents, communities, governments and businesses, Canadian universities will need to continue to plan strategically, manage proactively, deliver effectively and attract significant public support. Keeping these needs in mind, this edition of "Trends" provides not only a historical perspective and…

This publication addresses 10 "front-burner" public policy issues in higher education for 1994 which were identified and discussed by higher education policy experts in two meetings during the fall of 1993. A single page at the beginning of the document presents all 10 issues in a format designed for easy photocopying or overhead projector…

An overview is provided of the governance, organization, enrollment, programs, finances, facilities, legislation, and significant problems of the Illinois public community colleges. The first section provides a description of the organization of the 39 public community college districts, which comprise 50 colleges and five branch campuses. Next, a…