This article discusses the benefits of student participation in a gifted public relations campaign, including creating public support for gifted programming and developing leadership skills. Steps for developing a formal unit of instruction on public relations are described, along with ideas for public relations activities. (Contains references.)…

Proposes how music educators and arts administrators can work together to improve arts education. Recommends development of lobbying groups, and suggests ways of forming community attitudes to increase support for arts education. (LS)

A survey instrument is an efficient means of assessing public support for local gifted education programs. A questionnaire, developed for a survey of 133 individuals at post offices in rural northwest Arkansas, revealed positive attitudes toward gifted education but lack of awareness of specialized programming. (JDD)

William A. Brock, a member of President Bush's Advisory Committee on Education and chairman of the Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills (SCAN), criticizes American society's lack of attention and support for public education. Principals must examine and evaluate the enterprise system, talk to its participants, and learn about helpful new…

Investigates school spending in Norway, using a disaggregated demand model augmented to include political factors. Disaggregates county governments' high-school spending to identify sources of variation in student/teacher ratio, nonwage spending per student, and student enrollment. Political strength holds down (construction) costs and allows for…

The breakdown or "dumbing down" occurring in today's public schools stems not from poorer teaching but from poorer parenting. The parents most responsible for making public school a priority were goaded by memories of the Great Depression. As prosperity increased, parental attitudes have changed. Citizens of some states (like Indiana)…

Explores popular, historical, progressive, and economic representations of teachers' work to consider opportunities and dangers these images offer. Discusses the power to represent teaching, and speculates on the intentions of those who wield that power. Suggests ways teachers might make their work visible to the public in order to represent…

A liberal arts education, the central core of a university education, provides critical thinking skills and understanding of all aspects of life--important requirements for lifelong learning and adaptation in our rapidly changing world, yet often overlooked by the private sector. Accordingly, Canada's higher education associations call for…

Education is complex, slow, and demands teamwork. This is what educators need to be able to explain and what the public needs to understand. This is not getting across in the headlines. It is the author's experience that we have at least three categories of wrong ideas and half truths circulating around education: assumptions that mislead,…

The importance of the early years in creating a foundation for school and later success is well documented. Children who live in healthy, safe, and stimulating environments in the first five years of their lives are more likely to succeed than children who have more negative experiences. Hawai'i policy makers, like others across the nation, are…

Early education programs have long been regarded as an important step in preparing children for primary school--but investing in the education of America's youngest learners has emerged as one of the most promising ways to help strengthen the future economic and fiscal position of our states and nation. High-quality preschool programs offer…

During the last decade, the discovery that most voters believed that public schools were in need of improvement fueled the educational reform movement. This paper examines the public's role in education, with a focus on reasons for the public's failure to actively support educational reform. A review of recent surveys indicates that although most…

During the first crisis of the early 1990s, higher education institutions in Maryland experienced a decline in public funding and were consequently forced to compete for scarce resources. By 1992, higher education appropriations as a percentage of the state general fund had fallen to 11.1%; a decrease of 2.4% in just 2 years. Some improvement had…

This paper presents findings of a study that determined if there is a significant relationship between federal expenditures for education and federal expenditures for public assistance. Data on federal primary and secondary educational expenditures, federal public-assistance expenditures, the number of public-assistance recipients, the enrollment…

In 1990, the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky passed comprehensive and controversial legislation designed to change the nature of public education throughout Kentucky. Because implementation of the Kentucky Education Reform Act depends on public support at both the state and local levels, it is important to know whether support for…