While educators are eager to forget the financial woes of the past two years and return to the familiar routine of steady budget increases, the fiscal outlook for America's fourteen thousand school districts is bleak--not just for next year, but for a half decade or more. This calls for a new mindset among educators and an unfamiliar, sometimes-uncomfortable commitment to productivity and cost-effectiveness. This paper suggests several ideas on how districts can boost productivity and cost-effectiveness. (Contains 64 notes.)