Editor's Note: New Policies for Southwestern Schools

Credit Middle English for defining policieas "the art of government, civil organization." And perhaps there is art in the newest policies that are threading their way from Washington and the state capitals to the South and Southwest's local schools - or, at least art appears in the opportunities afforded by the linkages among policy, research, and practice.

This issue of SEDLetter examines several of these significant policies. Many were crafted in the statehouses in Austin, Baton Rouge, Little Rock, Oklahoma City, and Santa Fe. They enrich local school coffers, set new accountability standards, hike educators' wages, and boost school access to instructional technologies. Learn which of these policies are likely to have an impact on your schools in "From Statehouse to Schoolhouse," a survey of recent state legislation by SEDL Policy Associate Julia Guzman.

Instructional technology also received a lift from Washington, which offered schools discounts on telecommunications and Internet services. SEDLetter Editor Mimi Mayer provides an overview of the massive new E-rate discount program in "Dialing Up Discounts." And since states vary in their methods of implementing the E-rate program in their public schools, SEDLetter offers you "The E-Rate in the South and Southwest", a listing spelling out E-rate programs in Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas. You will find contact information as well as summaries of state policies for E-rate support and training that can help you apply for the discounts.

Research as well as policy can also shape school decision-making. You'll find several new research publications that may help you through the process in "Resources for School Policy-Making." We hope you find this information useful and relevant. Whether it elevates your policy-setting into the art of civil organization is up to you.

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