This newsletter includes five articles about educational and school policies, primarily related to equality of educational opportunity. "Texas Legislature Considers Much for Education, Accomplishes Little" (Albert Cortez, Anna Alicia Romero) summarizes educational legislation considered by the Texas legislature in the session ending in…

The extent of structural inequalities of students from racial and ethnic minorities in access to knowledge and resources is explored, and some of the sources of these inequalities are discussed. Some of the consequences of these inequalities for the nature and quality of education in the United States are considered. The isolation engendered by…

This document contains the 12 issues of the newsletter "Rural Policy Matters" published in 2000. Issues examine recent educational research on small and rural schools; report on state standards and court litigation related to rural schools, the efforts of communities to save their local schools, and the condition of rural facilities;…

This paper analyzes efficiency and equity issues in public expenditures on education and health in Ghana during the 1990s. Data were drawn from reports of the ministries of education and health and from household surveys conducted 1988-98. In the late 1990s, Ghana's public expenditures on education decreased. Basic education enrollment was…

Describes how a second-grade inner-city class in California, 80% Spanish-speaking and suffering from a severe lack of books and textbooks, became a class of authors, making books themselves. Relates how their classroom library grew to over 400 books in six weeks, with children becoming avid, passionate readers and writers in the process. (SR)

Addresses three critical issues challenging South African and U.S. efforts to improve teacher quality: equity, demographics, and violence. Both countries want education to ameliorate long-standing racial inequities by improving teacher qualifications; both face increasing enrollments and teacher shortages; and both have high crime rates. (Contains…

This theme issue focuses on issues related to high Texas dropout rates among Hispanic and other minority group students and on dropout prevention strategies. "School Finance Inequities Mean Schools Are Not Ready To Teach" (Maria Robledo Montecel) deplores the recent Texas Supreme Court ruling that state educational funding is…

The Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights (OCR) is charged with protecting fundamental rights to equal educational opportunity. During fiscal year (FY) 1990, OCR received 3,382 discrimination complaints, the highest number (as of that year) in the agency's history. OCR's National Enforcement Strategy, announced in 1990, was to focus…

Data previously reviewed are updated to show that, despite cuts imposed statewide because of the deficit reductions of 1991-92, the relations in educational finance among New York City, the rest of the state, and the metropolitan suburban districts remain essentially unchanged. State aid per pupil fell below the previous year's level in 1991-92 in…

Current school funding systems established by many states are resulting in widespread disparities in expenditures across districts, and current comparability measures providing adequate guarantees for equity among schools are being questioned. This study, involving 95 elementary schools and 25 high schools in 30 school districts across 5 states,…

This annotated but nonexhaustive resource list, describing 21 publications and 23 organizations, supports efforts funded through the Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Applied Technology Education Act of 1990 to improve the academic and economic outcomes of women and girls in vocational education. The listings are grouped under the following topics:…

This issue highlights findings of Marshall S. Smith and Jennifer O'Day's "Educational Equality 1966: Then and Now," a chapter of "The 1990 American Education Finance Association Yearbook: Spheres of Justice in Education," edited by Deborah A. Verstegen and James G. Ward. The "Brief" first focuses on educational trends over the past quarter…

Based on the realization that the rapid worldwide growth of educational systems over the last two decades has not produced the expected eradication of social inequality, an international seminar was held for educational policy-makers, planners from developing countries, research workers in the area, and representatives of aid agencies from 33…

Establishing instructional priorities in public schools is a worthwhile and important process. Because time and money are insufficient to increase staffing in schools, setting priorities is a necessary component of successful managing. Steps to be taken in setting instructional priorities are as follows: (1) Adopt a statement of mission describing…

To assist state-level educational policy makers, information about the needs of rural adults and barriers to their participation in educational programs was studied in seven northwestern states. Telephone interviews gathered information from educational providers (approximately 6 in each state) and 47 rural adult learners from the region. In each…