Abstract
The fiscal accountability measures that began to surface in California since 1984 became major concerns for county offices and local school districts. Many counties and local school districts feel that the Financial Management Advisory Committee Proposal is another step by the State Department to erode local control under the guise of fiscal accountability. Presently local school districts, particularly small school districts, cannot begin to implement the FMAC Proposal without retraining or hiring new staff. The problem is that the State Department is sending mixed signals as to their intent and direction for managing schools in California. A survey was conducted using a questionnaire specifically designed for this purpose with 12 statements reflecting supportive roles for the county office and 12 statements reflecting controlling roles for the county office. Altogether 58 county superintendents and 75 randomly selected district superintendents participated in the study. The purpose was to determine their perceptions of the role of the county office (control vs. support) in light of the FMAC Proposal in the following areas: staff development, increased staffing needs, need or use of an automated accounting and budgeting system, and the phase-in of the new reporting system as proposed by FMAC. These districts and counties were placed into two groups, small and large. The data was collected and treated with the t-test. This results indicate that superintendents from large and small county offices and districts agree on the following: (1) Staff development appears to be an acceptable role for the county office. (2) Meeting the increase staffing needs does not appear to be an appropriate role for the county office. (3) Activities concerned with automated accounting and budgeting systems appear to be an appropriate role for the county office. (4) Activities that deal with phase-in of reporting system appear to be an appropriate role for the county office. Moreover, county superintendents tend to favor more control for the county offices concerning the implementation of the FMAC Proposal in local school districts. District superintendents tend to favor support from the county office concerning the FMAC Proposal, but do not want to give up local control in the process of implementation. County superintendents and district superintendents need to review and examine those areas where there are discrepancies in the implementation process. County offices and local school districts need to work together to develop strategies and plans for implementation of future fiscal accountability measures that will clarify the role of the county office.