States within certain regions (like the Great Lakes area) are probably incapable of financing any major educational reform. The declining Illinois public school system exemplifies this predicament. However, change in the form of a more efficient organization of Illinois school districts is both feasible and likely. (RDN)

This volume focuses on school finance challenges in large urban school districts, fiscal accountability in these schools, and the fiscal dimensions of urban school reform. The 12 papers are (1) "School Finance and Urban Education Reform" (Christopher Roellke and Jennifer King Rice); (2) "Can Whole-School Reform Improve the…

This paper discusses policies to improve fiscal relations between levels of government to better meet the needs of citizens, an objective of the government's "Roadmap for Decentralisation". Although local government accounts for around half of total government spending, they have little autonomy and fiscal resources vary sharply between…

Describes an Australian Catholic school district's efforts to pursue school effectiveness by implementing system-level practices embodying Fullan's notions of support and pressure. Key elements included school development processes and appraisal and professional development for principals and teachers. The system has mobilized resources for…

This article presents a report from the Education Trust stating the growing gap in school funding between wealthy and poor districts in most states. In the report, the Washington-based Education Trust blames cash-strapped states for the disparities, which average just more than $1,300 per student across the country. The Education Trust makes…

The quality of a school building plays a critical role in student academic achievement as well as teacher retention. Yet, the majority of U.S. public schools are in poor physical condition, and nearly one-quarter are overcrowded, pressuring school systems to invest in both improving existing facilities and adding new facilities to accommodate…

Response to Intervention (RtI) is the practice of providing high-quality instruction and interventions to meet student needs and monitor progress in order to ensure effectiveness of instruction and/or interventions. RtI is an integrated service delivery approach for all students and should be applied to decisions in general, remedial, and special…

Numerous tables present data concerning student enrollment and state unit allotments in the Delaware public schools as of September 30, 1990. Part I of this report contains the unit allotments based on enrollment for the 20 individual school districts and the state as a whole. Part II contains elementary school and secondary school enrollment…

An analysis of the effect of the Kansas School District Equalization Act (SDEA) of 1973 on public school financing is provided in this consultants' report on behalf of six plaintiff school districts in "Newton United School District 373 et al., v. the State of Kansas." Following an introduction, the second section sets forth the initial…

The school-based management program (SBM) of a large-city school district in a midwestern state is reviewed in this study to determine the equity of SBM budgets. Methodology involved analysis of 127 individual site-based school budgets within the district. Comparisons were made among schools on the bases of financial variables--total site-based…

An average of 33.5 percent of school district expenditures is spent on classroom teachers' compensation in Wisconsin elementary schools. The range varies from a low of 21.4 percent to a high of 45.9 percent. Financial data were analyzed from the survey responses of 110 of Wisconsin's 431 districts. The reasons for the average proportion spent on…

This report presents findings from a study of state and local administration of Chapter 1 of the Education Consolidation and Improvement Act. The report is divided into six chapters. Chapter 1 presents an overview of the history of Title 1/Chapter 1 and the major conclusions of the study. Chapter 2 describes current administrative practices and…

To explore the role, responsibilities, and organizational relationships of a business administrator within the school district, six districts in the state of Washington were selected for examination. Semi-structured interviews were conducted along with observation of relevant documents to (1) describe the role and responsibilities of the business…

A study investigated the possible dependence of educational outcomes on staff attributes and organizational size once socioeconomic indexes are taken into account. All data were obtained from the New Jersey Department of Education. The variables of interest and their operational definitions include school characteristics, teacher characteristics,…

The evaluation team of the Lincoln Public Schools (Nebraska) used the multi-attribution utility technology (MAUT) approach to prioritize potential evaluation projects. The priorities were used to allocate resources to the district's most important projects, and to eliminate or scale down less important projects. The problem was caused initially…