Ziller, Robert C.; And Others (1969). The Political Personality. A Technical Report.
Responsiveness to diverse groups in a pluralistic constituency was assumed to be a crucial consideration related to election to political office. Responsiveness was assumed to evolve from the interaction of two components of self-other orientation, self-esteem and complexity of the self concept. The pattern of self-other orientation found least frequently among politicians (state legislators and superintendents of public schools in comparison with teachers and principals) was high self-esteem and high complexity (the apolitical personality pattern). Political candidates with this personality pattern were also elected to office less frequently. The results are interpreted within a framework of personality differentiation-integration.
Zwerdling, A. L. (1969). Detroit's Fight for Equal Educational Opportunity.
To meet the challenge of equal educational opportunity, current methods of public school finance must be revised. The present financial system, based on State equalization of local property tax valuation, is inequitable since it results in many school districts, particularly those in large cities, having inadequate resources to meet extraordinary needs. The Detroit experience dramatizes this nationwide dilemma: In less than a 10-year period the State equalized valuation has decreased by a billion dollars while the pupil population, containing a large proportion of the State's disadvantaged children, has increased. In response to the seemingly impossible task of providing equal education to an increasing enrollment with decreasing resources, the Detroit Board of Education has filed suit against the State of Michigan, charging that the State has failed to provide equal educational opportunities in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. A court's finding in favor of the school district's claim, or a favorable decision for the plaintiff in similar cases currently being contested elsewhere, could lead to the transfer of public school finance from local to State authority for more equitable allocations.
