This report contains findings and recommendations based on a study conducted to determine the feasibility of merging the Pitt County and Greenville County (North Carolina) school systems. Each school system is described in terms of pupil population patterns, building use, and educational and administrative services; issues related to these…

Diverse economic, social, and legal concerns have brought renewed attention to the problem of financing public schools. The primary economic concern is preparing students to compete successfully in the international marketplace. The change in demographics of the United States also is a major social concern for education. Legal concerns focus on…

Developed by a team of strategists to help local school districts in Michigan win school millage elections, this manual details the factors that go into a successful election campaign. The campaign is broken into five phases: building a coalition, surveying and gathering information, developing a campaign theme and campaign plan, identifying and…

As the United States prepares for the 21st century, questions regarding the high cost of education have increased in volume. Many of these questions and issues are addressed in this textbook. The text is intended for a beginning course in school finance, but school administrators, teachers, school board members, legislators, and others interested…

After summarizing the philosophy behind the financing of public schools, this document reviews the division of legal responsibility for education between the state and federal governments; outlines the state's responsibility for providing an equal educational opportunity for its residents; and summarizes the use of federal revenues, state…

After being placed on the back burner during the 1980s, school finance is again a major issue. In the 1970s, reliance on property taxes created school district disparities because of unequal tax bases. Legislative reforms enacted between 1971 and 1985 had the following characteristics: school finance formulas were revamped; the state role in…

Cases related to school finance, in which decisions were handed down in 1982, are reviewed in this chapter. It is observed that the constitutionality of existing state school finance programs was upheld in New York, Colorado, and Georgia, and that litigation was prevalent in the areas of taxation for schools and uses of school revenue. Issues…

Designed for secondary school social studies teachers, this curriculum outline offers suggestions for teaching about the governance, cost, and sources of fiscal support for public education. Although the outline is specifically designed for use by teachers in Michigan, it can be adapted for use in any state. Arranged into five major sections,…

This research snapshot provides answers to some of the key questions about budgeted revenues and expenditures within U.S. public school systems. The questions are as follows: (1) Why is information about school district budgets important? (2) How are school district budgets generally allocated? (3) To what extent do districts' expenditures vary by…