This paper identifies education governance reform, New Public Management (NPM) and Neoliberalism as keywords of recent education policies, and examines Federal education policy in the U.S. by referring to these three concepts. The results of the examination suggest the following points. First, though NPM and Neoliberalism are pointed out to be compatible, they do not always have a one-on-one relation. Therefore, it is necessary to analyze their relation according to each policy process. Second, there is a difference in the meaning of education governance reform in the U.S. and Japan. In the U.S., education governance reform through the reauthorization of Federal law was required to create a systemic structure for guaranteeing equality of education. However, in Japan, it was promoted under the criticism of the detailed common national standards and policies. Third, demands for equality itself would support the launching of a new control system in governance reform. Decentralizing the decision-making power is a component of NPM theory. However, if guaranteeing equality or quality of education is set as a primary goal, decentralization or autonomy would become tools for it, and a severe accountability system would be built.

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In this paper, the historical development of high school education policies in postwar Japan is outlined from a viewpoint of connection with the industrial community. As a result findings are provided as follows. 1) There was a big conversion of policy principle in the beginning of the 1970s, after the setback of "high school diversification" policy in the 1960s. 2) By the establishment of the smooth transition from "new graduate recruiting" to "Japanese employment (corporate education)", the high school system was highly "autonomized". 3) Although the social base of such "autonomy" was collapsed in the 1990s and afterwards, contemporary high school education policies could not cope with such situations. Lastly, problems which today's high school education policies should tackle are suggested.

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This paper analyzes the expenditure for supplementary education outside schools in households. Regression models are employed to explain the expenditure by independent variables reflecting the properties of households and the regional environment of education. The models reveal that the expenditure for supplementary education outside schools depends on not only the economic environment of households but also the regional properties including the availability of private schools and the closeness to megacities. This implies that inequality in educational opportunity leads to inequality in parental decision of supplementary education for their children. No consensus has been established whether such inequality is undesirable and should be resolved. However, the present situation poses an immediate question on the fairness of options for children that are limited by exogenous circumstances.

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This paper examines the possibilities and limitations of legislative local autonomy, part of the local autonomy that the Constitution guarantees. With advent of questions about the relationship between law and regulation in the field of pollution administrative, discussions have been continued in exploring the way to overcome what is traditionally called "law preemption theory". As well as accumulation of leading cases on the matter, a lot of regulations have been enacted on a local government level. In contrast to those efforts, the Supreme Court has ruled that the relationship of the law and regulation is determined substantially by taking into consideration the meaning, purpose, content, and effect of the law. This framework of judgment, however, is too general and abstract; therefore, it is hard to establish the criteria to be applied in individual administrative cases. In order to expand rights to enact regulations by reviewing obligations by the law, then, "rights to overwrite the law by regulation" has been widely discussed, but it seems to have come down to "mandated ordinances of localities theory". Now the improvement of legislative local autonomy is expected, especially in the field of educational administration to explore theory and practice in individual administrative cases.

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This paper reports on NPO support activities to resume schools in tsunami affected areas in Iwate in cooperation with educational departments and teachers' union. Kokkyo naki Kodomotachi (KnK, Children without Borders) is a non-governmental humanitarian association based in Tokyo which aims at supporting underprivileged children and youths in the world and promotes friendship and understanding between them and youths in Japan. The association was established in 1997. Since then, KnK has been conducting educational programs in Asia and the world. After the disaster on 11th March 2011, KnK started the support activities mainly in Iwate Prefecture in the North East Region of Japan such as providing educational materials, school buses, mobile children center services and the renovation and construction of community centers.

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This paper introduces results and implications from commissioned research by the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. The objectives of the research are (1) to record parties' memories about school response, (2) to understand some kinds of function about schools, school boards, and community, (3) to consider the relationship between school and community from a viewpoint of disaster prevention. This research consists of a "questionnaire" and "hearing investigation." This research implied the importance of the "regional partnership" in case of an earthquake disaster. (1) As the degree of regional partnership was high, earthquake disaster response went more smoothly. Especially the role of the neighborhood community association was very important. (2) It has been confirmed that daily cooperation with the community is so important for schools. (3) It is clear that it is so important for disaster prevention and safety to construct relationships between schools and community.

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The presentation is an attempt to show the teachers' union support to education in the region and local communities seriously damaged by the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Disaster and collaboration between teachers' unions and NPO/NGO. Hearing from the staff of the teachers unions, NPO and NGO, and the analysis of papers published by these, the main findings are as follows. 1) The unions make use of their non-formal structures and offer flexible support in comparison to formal organizations. 2) For the NPO/NGO teachers' unions have important aspects such as having an organizational basis and human network around the area, having its permanent staff and fixed funds, and the collaboration have some problems because these are made by chance and limited to project based one.

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In January, 2012, Mayor of Osaka, Toni Hashimoto released the "special Nishinari area concept" proposal which makes Nishinari Ward a "direct control division." As part of it, from September, 2012, "education vouchers" were implemented. It was targeted at approximately 950 junior high school students of households which received school expense subsidies in Nishinari Ward (from the 2013 fiscal year, about 70 percent of junior high school students in the city-excepting those from high income households will be supplied with 10,000 yen a month). Moreover, the Osaka Municipal Board of Education took out a plan which unifies three municipal elementary schools around Nishinari Ward, and opens a school combining Elementary and junior high schools in the 2015 fiscal year. It will be the "super school" implementing the educational curriculum of a high-level private school. It is "the eye-catching project of the special Nishinari area concept". On the other hand, the subsidy of the city for "Home of the children service" will be abolished by the intervention of Mayor Hashimoto. There was a subsidy until the 2013 fiscal year, but it will be canceled from the 2014 fiscal year. "Home of the children service" is Osaka city's original service. Children of a wide age group (0 years old-18 years old) and the children with a disability can register with the "Home of the children service". "Kodomo-no-sato (Home of children)" and "Sanno children center" in Nishinari Ward perform this service. In Nishinari Ward, the child policy of mayor Hashimoto is implemented intensively, but it is more likely to have a negative influence on the children of poor families.

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Today, local authorities are guided to execute the neoliberal reforms of education. In Osaka, the governor and the mayor belonging to Osaka Restoration Association (Osaka-Ishin-no-Kai) have been devoted to accomplishing the neoliberal reform of education. It is unique, because of their authoritarian methods. But in Osaka, as well as in other cities in Japan, the management-by-objective system furnished by the basic plan for promoting education lacks the fiscal sanctions directed at failing schools. To make up for this lack, the principals and vice-principals of the failing schools will be dismissed. The dismissal based on the school evaluation is working as the keystone of the management-by-objective system. Moreover, the attacks against public school teachers, public servants, artists receiving public financial aid, and other people who are not singled out for preferential treatment, the fretfulness about low achieving students, the competitive spirit which excludes each other, are all called on to obtain consent for the neoliberal reform of education.

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This paper first examines a recent trend in textbook policy in the Russian Federation. Then, it clarifies the impact the Russian Academy of Education has on that policy through developing textbooks and reforming the textbook authorization system. According to the revised textbook examination regulations introduced in 2010, the Academy was granted additional authority based on its pedagogical expertise. In addition, two main textbook publishing companies in the Russian Federation that are considered "pro-central-government" have a fixed chief with Academicians, and might be amalgamated. So, the Academy policy decisions seem to be strongly influenced by the central government. However, there is a wide range of cases where textbook development by academicians may not be/is not as strongly influenced by the central government. This means that the Academy will never be inclined towards exclusively "pro-central government" policies. These are unique characteristics of the Russian Academy of Education, defined by the Academy's dual role as a national educational research organization and a self-governing organization led by academicians.

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This paper tries to clarify the effect of governmental subsidy on the prefecturesx private-school subsidy system by analyzing current expenditure in time-series and case studies on three characteristic prefectures. From the analysis, three points became clear: firstly, governmental subsidy systems lead prefectures to increase the private-school budgets. Secondly, this system made new standards for the prefectural subsidies. Governmental subsidies lead prefectures with low subsidies to increase rapidly. On the other hand, prefectures with a high amount of subsidies in the past didn't increase much. They set the prefectural subsidies amount close to the governmental subsidies. Thirdly, prefectures with low increase in prefectural subsidies had an increase in their budgets other than current expenditures. The difference in priorities of private-school subsidy policy made this variation.

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