Courthouses vs. Statehouses?

Just over twenty years ago, the Kentucky Supreme Court declared the commonwealth\u27s primary and secondary public-education finance system-indeed, the entire system of primary and secondary public education in Kentucky-unconstitutional under the common schools clause of the education article in Kentucky\u27s constitution. That case has been widely cited as having ushered in the adequacy movement in school-finance litigation and reform, in which those challenging state school-funding schemes argue that the state has failed to ensure that students are provided an adequate education guaranteed by their state constitutions. Since the Rose decision in Kentucky, some thirty-three school-finance lawsuits have reached final decisions in thirty-one states. For plaintiffs, the campaign has been relatively successful in court, as school-funding schemes in twenty-two states have been declared unconstitutional. Recently, however, a few courts seem to be taking a more cautious approach, either declining to become embroiled in school-finance lawsuits or declaring the school-finance systems constitutional and relinquishing jurisdiction. Yet the pace of litigation appears unabated. In light of the overall success of the adequacy movement in court, the wariness with which some courts have begun to approach the matter, and the continued press for school reform through the courts, it is fair to say that the adequacy-finance-litigation movement has matured and it is time to take stock of it. Two recent books-Eric Hanushek and Al Lindseth\u27s Schoolhouses, Courthouses, and Statehouses and Michael Rebell\u27s Courts & Kids-do just that. And they reach very different conclusions (at least on the face of it)

Courthouses vs. Statehouses?

Just over twenty years ago, the Kentucky Supreme Court declared the commonwealth\u27s primary and secondary public-education finance system-indeed, the entire system of primary and secondary public education in Kentucky-unconstitutional under the common schools clause of the education article in Kentucky\u27s constitution. That case has been widely cited as having ushered in the adequacy movement in school-finance litigation and reform, in which those challenging state school-funding schemes argue that the state has failed to ensure that students are provided an adequate education guaranteed by their state constitutions. Since the Rose decision in Kentucky, some thirty-three school-finance lawsuits have reached final decisions in thirty-one states. For plaintiffs, the campaign has been relatively successful in court, as school-funding schemes in twenty-two states have been declared unconstitutional. Recently, however, a few courts seem to be taking a more cautious approach, either declining to become embroiled in school-finance lawsuits or declaring the school-finance systems constitutional and relinquishing jurisdiction. Yet the pace of litigation appears unabated. In light of the overall success of the adequacy movement in court, the wariness with which some courts have begun to approach the matter, and the continued press for school reform through the courts, it is fair to say that the adequacy-finance-litigation movement has matured and it is time to take stock of it. Two recent books-Eric Hanushek and Al Lindseth\u27s Schoolhouses, Courthouses, and Statehouses and Michael Rebell\u27s Courts & Kids-do just that. And they reach very different conclusions (at least on the face of it)

Achieving Adequacy in the Classroom

Though the last two decades have been marked by educational reform measures including standards-based reform, accountability policies, and “adequacy” litigation, there is one crucial element frequently absent from such schemes that is necessary to truly ensure that all children receive the educational resources and conditions necessary for an “adequate” education: meaningful reciprocal accountability. This article briefly discusses the recent history of education reform and its shortcom-ings to argue that a genuine reciprocal accountability system—one that provides effective monitoring and oversight mechanisms to local com-munities, parents, and students—is crucial to ensure the provision of an adequate education for all students. To be effective, such monitoring systems may require simple complaint mechanisms as well as training to local communities and students to hold state policymakers and school officials accountable. Only when such a ground-level monitoring system is established can we hope to achieve true adequacy in America’s classrooms

Utility of correlation techniques in gravity and magnetic interpretation

Internal correspondence uses Poisson's Theorem in a moving-window linear regression analysis between the anomalous first vertical derivative of gravity and total magnetic field reduced to the pole. The regression parameters provide critical information on source characteristics. The correlation coefficient indicates the strength of the relation between magnetics and gravity. Slope value gives delta j/delta sigma estimates of the anomalous source. The intercept furnishes information on anomaly interference. Cluster analysis consists of the classification of subsets of data into groups of similarity based on correlation of selected characteristics of the anomalies. Model studies are used to illustrate implementation and interpretation procedures of these methods, particularly internal correspondence. Analysis of the results of applying these methods to data from the midcontinent and a transcontinental profile shows they can be useful in identifying crustal provinces, providing information on horizontal and vertical variations of physical properties over province size zones, validating long wavelength anomalies, and isolating geomagnetic field removal problems

Utility of correlation techniques in gravity and magnetic interpretation

Two methods of quantitative combined analysis, internal correspondence and clustering, are presented. Model studies are used to illustrate implementation and interpretation procedures of these methods, particularly internal correspondence. Analysis of the results of applying these methods to data from the midcontinent and a transcontinental profile show they can be useful in identifying crustal provinces, providing information on horizontal and vertical variations of physical properties over province size zones, validating long wave-length anomalies, and isolating geomagnetic field removal problems. Thus, these techniques are useful in considering regional data acquired by satellites

Optimal light for conidiation

Optimal light for conidiatio