This pamphlet is designed to help parents lobby for state-level funding of gifted programs. Suggestions for making telephone calls and writing letters to representatives and senators are offered along with sample scripts for a telephone call and a letter. A description of the 15-step legislative process for gifted education bills in Illinois is…

A study examining factors influencing decisions state legislators make about school finance focuses on votes in Michigan, Missouri, and Washington. Each of these states passed major school finance reform legislation during the 1970's and used open legislative procedures in which individual legislators were free to vote their consciences.…

This paper urges colleges to take an active role in the political decision-making process and uses the lobbying efforts of Miami-Dade Community College (MDCC) as an example. The paper first notes the inability of the Florida community colleges to foster a concise public image, the concomitant lack of attention paid by the state legislature to the…

The issue for the decade ahead is no longer whether states will use their power to require increased accountability, initiate more detailed budget review, and seek influence over what colleges teach and to whom, but how they will use it. Economic and demographic changes, access and economic barriers, remediation, quality and effectiveness, and…

Consideration is given to determining strategies that are most effective, deciding which people from the university are most effective in influencing which government officials using what methods, and presenting a united front to state governments. (Author/LBH)

The Legislative Environmental Advisory Group (LEAG) is an experimental program whose purpose is to produce public policy research on environmental issues for Iowa state legislators. LEAG's membership, selection of six manageable research areas, evaluation of projects, scheduling, and dissemination of results are briefly discussed. (MLW)

From the viewpoint of a state legislator, discusses ways that educators and legislators can combine their expertise to improve the educational policy-making process and to develop useful information on educational programs that can serve as a basis for constructive, informed legislative action. (JG)

To determine the effect on legislative decision making of five selected influences questionnaires were sent to members of the Virginia General Assembly (139 in 1986, and 140 in 1988). A response rate of more than 50 percent was achieved. On 22 of the 26 education-related bills studied, personal feelings were the most important influence. (seven…

A survey of 22 state legislators nationwide investigated what attitudes or characteristics distinguish successful from unsuccessful legislators in their attempts to pass free press legislation for high school journalists. Seven legislators successful in passing such legislation were asked 20 questions by phone. Surveys were also mailed to 28…

The Arizona state legislature met from November 1979 to April 1980 for the sole purpose of restructuring and codifying rules that define school financial policy and reforming tax structures that support educational institutions. This case study investigated the role of special interest groups in shaping state educational policy at that session.…

Compiled from the Maine Revised Statutes of 1964 (including amendments through 1973), the Constitution of Maine, and the current Resolves and Private and Special Laws, this compilation of laws pertaining to American Indians includes statutes relative to the following: (1) Constitution of Maine (bond issues; guaranteed loans for Indian housing;…

This monograph reports an exploratory study of legislative behavior in the field of education. The study sampled a large number of legislators' rollcall votes involving educational policy under various conditions of partisanship. The specific objectives of the study were to (1) determine the changes that occur in patterns of rollcall voting on…

Conflicts over authority between the California legislature and the University of California are examined. Compensatory strategies were adopted: authority was used in one area to gain control of a second. The outcomes of these conflicts and their policy implications for university independence and responsiveness are examined. (Author/MLW)

A hearing was planned by the California Senate Select Committee on Higher Education Admissions and Outreach to consider the role of the Scholastic Assessment Tests (SAT) and the American College Test (ACT) in the admission of students to California's public universities. The hearing was intended to provide a serious discussion of the merits and…

This report contains testimony and materials presented at the California Senate Select Committee on Higher Education Admissions and Outreach hearing, February 1998, held to examine the role of the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) and the American College Test (ACT) in undergraduate admissions to the public universities of California. In her…