The White Oaks School District: A Challenge to Survive
Nicholson, Michael Thomas
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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/79701
Description
Title
The White Oaks School District: A Challenge to Survive
Author(s)
Nicholson, Michael Thomas
Issue Date
2002
Doctoral Committee Chair(s)
James Ward
Department of Study
Education
Discipline
Education
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
Ed.D.
Degree Level
Dissertation
Keyword(s)
Education, Finance
Language
eng
Abstract
This study is the history of a rural community in Illinois and its school district from 1970 to 1995. The purpose of this study was to find out how the White Oaks School District survived within the context of the fiscal stress it endured between 1970 and 1995. Of particular interest is: How did the White Oaks School District survive the climate of fiscal crisis? Why did the school district do what it did? What factors contributed to and/or impeded the survival of the school district? What measures or strategies were adopted by the school district to ensure its continuing survival? Certain specific causes of fiscal stress, the measures or indicators of fiscal stress, and the alternatives, actions, or policies that cope with fiscal stress were reviewed and examined in the light of this case study. What the study revealed is that the White Oaks School District was fiscally stressed by a number of factors, and had to adopt certain strategies to survive. The Farmland Reassessment Act of 1982 was the single most devastating cause of fiscal stress, although other causes endemic to a rural community existed as well. The actions that were taken and the policies that were followed were motivated by a single purpose: the survival of the school district and community. The decisive reason why the district survived is because a significant cross-section of the community banded together to pass a referendum that would ensure the school district would survive.
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