This paper reviews trends in resource allocations in the public schools over the last 25 years. It focuses specifically on changes in expenditures and school staff for the nation as a whole and for each of the 50 states and the District of Columbia, using data from the National Center for Education Statistics and the National Education Association…

By focusing attention on comparative state performance in educating students, the Wall Chart (State Education Statistics, 1983) forced policymakers to consider state differences in student populations and the consequences of these differences for the outcomes of state systems of education. This paper presents the results of a study that attempted…