This paper analyzes obstacles to educational equity by focusing on state policies and local actions in Massachusetts from 1978 to 1983. Three obstacles are examined in particular: conflicting state-level priorities, the tax revolt movement, and local autonomy. (TE)

Explains the United Kingdom's educational finance system and summarizes research into educational costs and resources at the individual school level, including the Loughborough research projects in the four Local Education Authority areas. Statistical investigations show that inequalities in funding and resource allocation need to be addressed.…

This report updates developments relating to public school finance legislation in Texas during a special summer legislative session in 1984. Discussion focuses on House Bill 72, which increased teachers salaries, distributed state aid more equitably, increased equalization aid, mandated new programs, and increased state taxes. (TE)

This article reviews the current status of school finance in California in the aftermath of Proposition 13 and the Serrano v. Priest decision (which required determination of school funding on some basis other than district property wealth). Specific trends and directions regarding reform issues of the future are identified. (TE)

This report describes and evaluates the North Dakota state/local fiscal system, especially as it relates to financing public education. It identifies and evaluates various fiscal policy options for raising additional tax revenue for support of schools and other public services in ways consistent with the basic characteristics of the North Dakota…

Contemplation by the Illinois General Assembly of a new grant-in-aid system for school finance has suggested a review of educational finance in that state. Taxation maintaining support of public education since 1825 and the establishment of the first free schools are examined. The issue of local funding, the inequities caused by such funding due…

A study analyzed the revenues of the Chicago Public Schools since 1970; all the relevant data on these revenues are compiled in this document, which presents a comprehensive picture of the finances of the Chicago Public Schools. In response to a fiscal crisis that has continued since 1979-80, the Chicago Board of Education has cut its staff by…

This report consists of two parts. Part 1 provides an inventory of past and present funding instruments in support of university research. It lists types of grants used for research-related purposes and gives information about their provisions and uses. Part 2 provides an assessment conducted by the General Accounting Office of the comparative…

Data concerning state-local systems of financing public education in Illinois reveal inequities across districts of different types as well as between districts of the same type. The procedure should be of value in appraising school finance inequities in states with diverse patterns of school district organization. (MLF)

This paper describes funding formulas for the new Foundation School Program in Texas enacted under the Education Opportunity Act (H.B. 72), raises issues that have accompanied its first year of implementation, and provides preliminary data to compare prior and existing law. The state finance system, which previously distributed state aid according…

This study examines the relationships between various elements of property wealth and operating expenditures per pupil by types of school district--elementary (K-8), high (9-12), and unit (K-12). Elements of property wealth were defined as the equalized assessed valuation per pupil for each of the following property tax classifications:…

This is the report of a finance review which examined long-standing inequities in education finance as well as current problems stemming from declining enrollment and sparse rural populations. An introduction provides the rationale for the review, along with the mandate set out by the Minister of Education, an overview of the organization and…

Wide scale reform in Texas education financing was enacted in 1984 under the Equal Education Opportunity Act (Texas House Bill 72). This paper examines the reform through an analysis of the newly enacted weighted pupil Foundation School Program (FSP) during the 1985-86 school year. Two modes of inquiry were used: correlational analysis between…

This paper evaluates the equity dimensions of a grant-in-aid system based on the Resource Cost Model (RCM), as proposed by the Illinois State Board of Education. The first section is an independent evaluation of the conceptual and legal aspects of the RCM, focusing on both the weaknesses and the strengths of the model. In the second section, an…

Investigates the financial structure of Russia's educational system and finds it wanting. Social, political, and economic changes have rendered the old Soviet system dysfunctional and irrelevant. Authorities, however, have failed to create a replacement. Discusses several possible reforms, including creating a national banking system for…