A study examining student incident-referral data trends at four Palm Beach County high schools shows that the school participating in Peace Education Foundation's Win Win! Program experienced downward referral rates, compared to control schools. Discussing conflict resolution within the school culture fostered better anger management or diplomatic…

In Michigan, highly politicized school-finance reforms and the charter-school and school-choice movements present enormous challenges for school business officials. There is greater demand for administrator accountability and credibility, an open environment, effective communication skills, efficient use of data, long-term vision,…

Education for the Energy Industry is an innovative, collaborative program for grades 4-12 planned for the Aldine (Texas) Independent School District's magnet schools in math, science, and the arts. Assisted by Rice University and major oil companies, the program allows students to use their knowledge to solve industry-related problems and apply…

In many school districts, business managers--not superintendents--are the ones who deal with labor relations, negotiating or participating on the negotiations team. Business managers who oversee the human resources department may find themselves dealing with labor relations on a regular basis. In this article, the author discusses four labor…

The use of corporal punishment may be as old as society itself. However, the development of compulsory attendance laws has raised questions about its legality. Under compulsory attendance laws and subject to exceptions for home schooling and nonpublic schools, parents must send their children to public schools or be subject to sanctions. Conflicts…

In times of limited resources, the likelihood of difficult negotiations between labor and management may increase even in the best of school districts. The negotiation process can range from traditional to positional to competitive to a more collaborative and cooperative interest-based approach. The most productive approach is a matter of debate…

Tells efforts by Pearland Independent School District (Texas) school board and superintendent to adopt a standardized dress code, an effort that led to student and community opposition and controversy. Describes lessons learned. (PKP)

The Nebraska legislature created the Commission of Industrial Relations to resolve labor disputes between governmental agencies and their employees. Refinement of the commission's practices has led to the basic premise of comparability--teachers who perform similar work in similar size school districts should receive similar compensation and…