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Includes bibiographies and index

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This is a resource book on cutback management in public schools. It catalogs over 30 practices, provides policy models from 27 school districts in 17 states, and summarizes a decade of advice about decline management in light of recent research evidence on what works and what doesn't work in managing the politics of retrenchment. Its highlights include (1) syntheses of the research evidence on conflict management, on the political, neighborhood, curricular, and fiscal impacts of school closure, on the impact of declining enrollments on the school program, and on equity initiatives; (2) a coalition rather than consensus building model of conflict management and its implications for developing policies for community involvement; (3) two field-tested fiscal analysis procedures that clarify the cost and revenue implications of changes in enrollments and services; (4) procedures for documenting the impact of enrollment decline on curricular offerings at the high school level; and (5) a checklist for developing policies incorporating performance criteria into reduction-in-force policies. (Author/TE)

This research memorandum investigates whether enlisted endstrength cuts can be implemented to meet the following objectives: The personnel structure of the Navy after the strength cuts should be stable, advancement opportunity should change as little as possible, and endstrength cuts should be taken without having to extend involuntary separations beyond current policy. The analysis shows that these goals can be met by phasing cuts over a number of years if the percentage of petty officers in the inventory is simultaneously increased by a small amount. (rwj)

This review of the literature focuses on the effects of enrollment and fiscal decline on local school district management and also looks at the effects of local districts' policy responses to decline. The review's five sections include an overview of the kinds of literature available on decline; a summary of the main policy issues identified in the literature; a codification of the professional consensus on how best to manage decline; a review and summary of the research literature on local school systems' management of and adjustments to decline; and a discussion of the policy implications of those research findings, paying special attention to the trade-offs between the requirements of technical rationality and the political constraints facing declining school systems. The review is based on a comprehensive search of the literature in the ERIC system through July 1981 and serves as the first report in a 15-month project that will produce a handbook in August 1982 on the management of decline in school systems. An extensive annotated bibliography of 250 items, including 28 reports documenting local school districts' responses to decline, accompanies the review. (Author/PGD)

Includes bibliographical references (p. 263-275) and index

Organizational theory offers rural school administrators several ways of thinking about retrenchment made necessary by declining enrollment. Obstacles to innovative responses to retrenchment include a shift in how organizations are perceived: from closed systems in which rational decisions are made about changes, to open systems in which administration is a highly politicized activity, with a tendency to favor encrusted organizational practices over innovative solutions. Under such conditions, rural school districts tend to cut back existing programs and services (the "efficiency" option). These difficult decisions are often postponed until no other visible alternatives are available. Some factors contributing to the choice of efficiency measures over innovation are that quantitative results are easier to ascertain; the most innovative members are the first to leave during difficult times; and, in such times, espousal of traditional values, including "core programs," predominates. To counteract these contributing factors, rural schools should establish priorities through planning, using such strategies as system development planning, quality circles, and opportunistic management. Approaches for improving delivery of programs include use of community members to assist teachers; new technologies such as computer networks; mobile laboratories for specialized courses/services; and shared services within/between school jurisdictions. Universities can help with teacher training specifically oriented toward rural practice. (MH)

Arlington County Board Candidates address questions at the RAFOM Candidates' Debate on Oct. 10, 2007. The election for two candidates to the County Board is on Nov. 6, 2007. For more RAFOM Debate coverage, see the Ode Street Tribune.

Arlington County Board Candidates address questions at the RAFOM Candidates' Debate on Oct. 10, 2007. The election for two candidates to the County Board is on Nov. 6, 2007. For more RAFOM Debate coverage, see the Ode Street Tribune.

Although educational leaders have been coping with declining enrollment for almost a decade, educational researchers have begun to focus on the topic only recently. The first part of this introduction to a special issue of the Peabody Journal of Education briefly summarizes the contents of the subsequent essays, which are intended to bridge the gap between researchers and practitioners. The introduction's second part provides a conceptual framework for the essays, discussing the problem of adjusting to declining enrollment as one of determining not only what actions to take, but also how to make unpleasant decisions. The first aspect of the problem, that of "substantive retrenchment policies," concerns revenue-generating policies, cost-cutting policies, and degrees of political divisiveness likely to result from such policies. The second dimension of the problem, that of "process retrenchment policies," involves the management tasks of planning for and obtaining acceptance of a board's decisions, including policies that vary in being of a technical or political nature and in being divisive to differing degrees. Educational leaders' decisions in times of enrollment decline must be based on both efficiency (making cuts for the benefit of the organization as a whole) and equity (distributing cuts across the entire organization). (JBM)

As the world trends towards a multipolar construct, it is imperative the United States adapt its approach to international relations and its use of the military instrument of national power. It must do so to reverse its outward focus, reform its reputation within the international community, and empower its partners as it slowly moves towards being a pole vice being the pole. This paper analyzes the relative decline debate and compares and contrasts the concepts of deep engagement and restraint. It contextualizes the problem by highlighting the extant forces that will compel Washington to favor the latter over the former and it recommends fundamental foreign policy principles and associated restraint options that will help slow down America s economic decline and preserve its power and influence. In the future, Washington will be compelled to exercise a degree of restraint so that it can focus on the domestic economy, satisfy a war-wary electorate, correct the folly of global democratization, and sequester the costs of nation-building. With a restrained foreign policy, the United States must define its national interests more narrowly, reduce partner dependence on the American security umbrella, and empower coalition partners in future military operations by treating them as mutually indispensable. If the United States does not seriously reexamine its foreign policy first principles, relative decline will wax, and influence will wane. America must seize its opportunity for a course correction now.

Faced with an enrollment decline of over 50 percent since 1962, the board of the public school system in Seattle (Washington) decided in 1981 to close 18 of the district's 112 schools. This report details the decade-long process that led to this decision, treating in particular the changing relationships among the school district, the city, and concerned citizens. Drawing on interviews with local city and school officials and community representatives, and on examinations of the records of the period, the researchers found that the process of school district policy-making on facility utilization had been fraught with many difficulties and had undergone many changes. The roles of the school board and citizen groups in obtaining, developing, and utilizing relevant information changed considerably over the years. Despite an outcome that failed to satisfy all participants fully, the policy development process did lead to some positive results and suggested to the researchers ways in which the many problems raised by massive retrenchment can be overcome. (Author/MLF)

Faced with an enrollment decline of over 50 percent since 1962, the board of the public school system in Seattle (Washington) decided in 1981 to close 18 of the district's 112 schools. This report details the decade-long process that led to this decision, treating in particular the changing relationships among the school district, the city, and concerned citizens. Drawing on interviews with local city and school officials and community representatives, and on examinations of the records of the period, the researchers found that the process of school district policy-making on facility utilization had been fraught with many difficulties and had undergone many changes. The roles of the school board and citizen groups in obtaining, developing, and utilizing relevant information changed considerably over the years. Despite an outcome that failed to satisfy all participants fully, the policy development process did lead to some positive results and suggested to the researchers ways in which the many problems raised by massive retrenchment can be overcome. (Author/MLF)

Previous management research supports the view that comprehensive planning and participative decision-making are important factors in reducing community opposition to educational policies. To investigate the possibility that neither of these strategies necessarily has this effect, a survey was undertaken of 53 school districts that had experienced declining enrollment over a 10-year period beginning in 1970-71. Following data collection by means of closed-ended questionnaires called checklists, a least-squares regression analysis was conducted of all variables, including community opposition, planning comprehensiveness, consultant involvement, teacher involvement, and community involvement. Results, as revealed in three statistical tables, indicate that, contrary to what might have been expected, comprehensive planning may actually increase rather than decrease opposition in conditions of decline where less systematic, shorter term planning might be more effective. Similarly, although increased participation generally leads to less opposition, in times of retrenchment only teacher involvement tends to decrease resistance. Under such conditions, the increased involvement of outside consultants and the community at large may have no impact on efforts to reduce opposition. (JBM)

Part of a series on economic recovery strategies and techniques for assessing, managing, and mitigating the impacts of economic decline resulting from plant closures, substantial layoffs, or plant relocation, this paper presents a model local leaders can use to analyze, plan, and organize activities. As a means of illustrating the kinds of impacts that may be expected and the application of the model, recent research into the psychological, social, demographic, economic, and fiscal impacts of rapid economic decline is reviewed. The research indicates that impact varies with conditions in the community, the extent of change in needs or demands outside the community, and characteristics of the source of impact. It is recommended that communities monitor for signs of change and organize for local control when decline is anticipated. The model suggests four options for local leaders to consider when economic decline is anticipated/occurring to minimize negative and maximize positive impacts: (1) political action to influence state and federal legislation, policies, and programs; (2) negotiation for impact assistance from the source of impact; (3) changes in the setting, such as worker ownership; and (4) passive nonaction. This material can also be applied to slow growth situations where problems may be similar. (NEC)

Part of a series on economic recovery strategies and techniques for assessing, managing, and mitigating the impacts of economic decline resulting from plant closures, substantial layoffs, or plant relocation, this paper presents a model local leaders can use to analyze, plan, and organize activities. As a means of illustrating the kinds of impacts that may be expected and the application of the model, recent research into the psychological, social, demographic, economic, and fiscal impacts of rapid economic decline is reviewed. The research indicates that impact varies with conditions in the community, the extent of change in needs or demands outside the community, and characteristics of the source of impact. It is recommended that communities monitor for signs of change and organize for local control when decline is anticipated. The model suggests four options for local leaders to consider when economic decline is anticipated/occurring to minimize negative and maximize positive impacts: (1) political action to influence state and federal legislation, policies, and programs; (2) negotiation for impact assistance from the source of impact; (3) changes in the setting, such as worker ownership; and (4) passive nonaction. This material can also be applied to slow growth situations where problems may be similar. (NEC)