Education resources matter when they are allocated and used effectively. Yet, the upstream decisions school boards make about district budgets and resource allocation are understudied. In this descriptive study, we analyze data from 400 publicly available video recordings of financial deliberations in school board budget meetings between spring…

Across the country, millions of students that were expected to enroll in school last Fall did not show up. Public schools are searching for these "missing students" and working to get them back to school, either virtually or brick and mortar. The enrollment drop stands to impact more than just the missing students. Education funding…

Rural school districts, educating just over 25% of all public school students across the country, play an important role in the nation's educational landscape. At the heart of the success of rural school districts are the superintendents who run these rural and often small districts. Superintendents of rural schools throughout the United States,…

For decades safety has been an integral component of STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) and CTE (career and technical education) instruction. Given today's litigious society, safety in P-12 STEM education and CTE has received greater attention. This in part is the result of the rise in popularity of collaborative learning…

The expectation for strong superintendent leadership has increased due to a demand for greater student achievement and accountability. This study examined public school board presidents' and superintendents' perceptions of the characteristics superintendents must possess to effectively lead in today's complex educational system. A…

Since the 1970s, American governors have become increasingly active in education politics. Where they once told state education chiefs to "make me the best education governor ever," they now demand control of state boards of education, push for state control of school funding, and urge statewide standards for teacher evaluation. This…

The author, who has served as a school board member and district superintendent, advocates that school districts use an academic return on investment approach to evaluate and make decisions about spending, specifically in special education. This approach requires that schools formally evaluate all programs, efforts, and strategies by multiple…

Leading Charlotte foundations formed a funding collaborative to support a five-year district turnaround initiative to dramatically improve educational outcomes for students in the West Charlotte High School corridor, one of the city's lowest-performing feeder zones. The "Project L.I.F.T." initiative involves four areas of education…

Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS), Maryland, is the 17th largest school district in the country, with more than 146,000 students and 200 schools (34 of which are National Blue Ribbon and 27 of which are Title 1). Wielding a budget of more than $2 billion, MCPS is also one of the top performing school districts in the country, with a 90%…

Armed with real-world examples and out-of-the-box ideas, Levenson challenges conventional thinking about school budgeting and offers a compelling way forward for school superintendents, central office leaders, building principals, and school board members. Virtually every school district in the nation is experiencing an extended period of…

Ten or even five years ago, it would have been a major undertaking for a school district to convert to a comprehensive green cleaning program. At that time there was little precedence and no "roadmaps" for doing so. Thus schools faced numerous challenges that included: (1) what defined a green cleaning product; (2) should a comprehensive program…

In 2009-2010, California made substantial education budget cuts at the same time that it removed its spending requirements from $4.5 billion of state money. This gave districts the flexibility to use the funds in any manner approved by the local school board. Researchers found that most of the formerly earmarked money was moved into general funds…

Chicago teachers voted last week to suspend a 7-day-old strike, sending some 350,000 students back to the classroom and paving the way for the teaching force to vote on a tentative contract. But for many in the Windy City, the contract has raised another potentially tall hurdle: how the cash-strapped district will manage to pay for it. District…

The Ministry of Education recently announced the cancellation of the Annual Facility Grant (AFG) for 2009-10, resulting in a loss of $110 million dollars in revenue to school districts. This decision comes after Boards of Education submitted their 2009-10 balanced budgets by June 30, based on expected revenues for the coming school year. Boards of…

Virtually every school district in the country is dealing with the need to reduce their budget. The process used to make those decisions varies from state to state but almost always includes a combination of short and long-term approaches. In many school districts the emphasis is on reducing individual budget line items and not filling vacant…