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Discipline of disruptive students can create teaching problems, consume instructional time, and generate legal problems that hinder the rights of the innocent students to gain optimal education. An Oregon statewide survey reporting teacher attitudes toward discipline suggests that needed changes include a greater conformity to established school regulations, revision of the Oregon compulsory attendance law, and the establishment of alternative schools for deviant youth. The administrator attitude, reported by a senior high school vice-principal, reflects concern over rising juvenile crime and the apparent inability of police, juvenile court, and education agencies to punish or deter juvenile offenders. Inconsistencies in state laws are said to contribute to the problem. The legal perspective, reported by a school district attorney, suggests that due process is appropriate and necessary for protection of student rights, and that the law allows reasonable disciplinarey action and eventual expulsion for disruptive students. (DW)

Increased enrollments combined with teacher retirements and resignations are creating a strain on the current supply of qualified teachers. As the demand for new teachers is increasing, the number of new teaching graduates is decreasing proportionally. A national teacher shortage is imminent and already exists is some locations and in some subjects areas such as math and science. In Oregon, a recession has curbed the crisis, but retirements and resignations could create a shortage within the next four years. Historically, there have been four responses to a severe teacher shortage: (1) raid other schools; (2) drop standards for entering the teaching field; (3) raise the student/teacher ratio; and (4) use misassignments and emergency certification. All four have proved to be unsatisfactory. A positive step that can be taken is to talk now with the state Legislatures, the Department of Education, and the professional organizations about the need to prevent any drastic decrease in teaching quality. Districts should also look closely at hiring patterns and at training mentor teachers. Job sharing should be encouraged and recent retirees should be viewed as a major resource. The use of extracurricular support personnel and the role of technology should also be considered. (GJ)

There are no simple answers to the tricky business of managing conflict within organizations. Almost every conflict is a unique case with its own issues, participants, dynamics, and consequences. Still, it appears possible to differentiate between organizations that handle conflict productively and those that do not. Successful organizations view conflict in neutral terms, use conflict to energize leadership, leave conflict as stronger organizations, and develop systems for handling rather than ignoring conflict. Conflict can lead to several outcomes: deadlock, the victory of one side and defeat of the other, compromise, the integration of both points of view in a new solution, or a purposeful decision to sidestep the conflict altogether. Each of these outcomes is suitable to particular situations; none is appropriate to all; and some are more difficult to achieve than others. The characteristics that seem most positively related to an organization's ability to resolve conflict productively include having an open organizational climate; maintaining clear, accepted organizational goals and roles; establishing effective problem-solving mechanisms; keeping communication and feedback systems operating; equalizing power among internal groups; encouraging innovation; and developing cohesiveness and mutual trust among organization members. (PGD)

National concerns in education and their implications for one local district are the focus of these remarks by a superintendent to his returning staff as he begins his fifth year in the Eugene, Oregon school district. Among the topics addressed are popular attitudes toward education, the achievements of the American educational system through the century, the need to strive for both liberty and equality in education, the threat of conformity, significant changes in society's treatment of young people, the role of the community in the individual's life, the true value of size as a characteristic of institutions, and the role of leaders in today's world. Topics specific to the public schools of Eugene include curriculum development, interactions between school staff members and students, the importance of sharing decision-making among interested parties, the benefits of appropriate appraisal of programs and people, the special education program, and the significant role that can be played by each staff member. (PGD)

Declining enrollment forces school districts to cope with many new problems, but also opens the door to new opportunities. A review of the implications of enrollment decline provides deeper understanding of both the problems and the opportunities. Among the major concerns are the disruptions caused by school closures, the new emphases required in planning, increases in financial pressures as income falls while costs remain high, and reductions in teacher morale as reductions in force occur. The major benefits are to be found in the freeing up of space in previously crowded facilities and the opportunities created for schools to try new programs, including those that reach out to the community. Districts must focus carefully on understanding national and local population trends, finding uses for empty classrooms, and involving the community in decision-making (particularly through participation on task forces). The experience of the Highline School District in Seattle, Washington, suggests that careful planning and community involvement can lead to positive results. This review of enrollment decline concerns concludes with several comments by a panel of educators concerning teacher transfer policies, reductions in force, justifications for employing decline specialists, and problems of socioeconomic isolation of schools caused by population shifts. (PGD)

A conference on new perspectives in school administration was held for elementary school principals in the summer of 1975 by the Confederation of Oregon School Administrators. This paper summarizes material presented in five topic areas by eight speakers. Steve Goldschmidt's talk on school law touched on the administrator's and the school's liability in cases where negligence is alleged, and looked at the extent of the school's right to punish students, search lockers, and confiscate student property. Don Dunbar and Jim Beach discussed preparation for and prevention of teacher strikes from the administrator's perspective. The trend toward contract negotiation between administrators and school boards was Denny Westover's topic. Orville Ause covered evaluation of school personnel using an evaluation by objectives framework. Don Casida and Gene Perry reviewed the Planning Programming Budgeting System concept. Barbara Krohn described school public relations, noting the personnel involved, the audiences addressed, and some practical approaches to relations with the community. (PGD)