Total costs equal fixed costs plus variable costs. Fixed costs remain stable, especially in the short term, but may vary with a longer time horizon. Fixed costs include building and equipment costs, regulatory fees and salaried personnel. In the long run, even fixed costs can vary.
Education reform is the name given to the goal of changing public education. Historically, reforms have taken different forms because the motivations of reformers have differed. However, since the 1980s, education reform has been focused on changing the existing system from one focused on inputs to one focused on outputs (i.e., student achievement).
The entire reform consists of four components, linked by a compelling logic. 1  To give the public-school system reasonable time to adjust to the changes, the reform is being phased in gradually and will not be completely in effect until the academic year 2006-07. The components are as follows: 1  The development of high, content-rich academic standards in grades K-12 (the Standards of Learning, or SOLs, adopted in June 1995 and available to local school divisions to begin implementation thereafter);