While there is a wealth of research on school finance equity and adequacy, and school finance theory clearly documents differences between the two concepts, no study has examined whether the reforms engendered by each approach actually differ in terms of resource distribution. The present study examines the issues using district-level data on…

One hundred fifty years ago, cotton was considered as the king of all United States' agricultural exports. Cotton's dollar value far exceeded that of any other mid-19th-century United States trade item, much more than tobacco, fish, forest products, raw materials for manufacturing, or manufactured items. Indeed, in the mid-19th century, cotton was…

If one relies on newspaper headlines for education funding information, one might conclude that America's schools suffer from a perpetual fiscal crisis, every year perched precariously on the brink of financial ruin, never knowing whether there will be sufficient funding to continue operating. Budgetary shortfalls, school district bankruptcies,…

This article asserts that although there has been a consistently increasing demand on both the national and state levels for alignment of resources (inputs) to improved student outcomes (outputs), the lack of a systematic and well-defined policy portfolio has limited reform effectiveness. This article specifically examines the overreliance on…

Beginning in the late 1960s, and accelerating unabated through to the present, plaintiffs have filed more than 125 court cases questioning the constitutionality of school district and school spending levels. Much of the litigation, particularly early on, centered on the issue of funding "equity." Few would seek to deny American public school…

While there is a wealth of research on school finance equity and adequacy, and school finance theory clearly documents differences between the two concepts, no study has examined whether the reforms engendered by each approach actually differ in terms of resource distribution. This study examines the issues using district level data on expenditure…

The inadequacy of present-day public school financial and performance reporting restricts policymakers. With existing spending and activity information now generally available, public officials can determine only overall education resource levels and make allocative decisions only among gross input categories such as relative amounts of labor and…

The author predicts that within the next four years we will see another major federal school aid bill which will try to provide for financial equalization both between states and within states, as well as to provide some property-tax relief. (AN)

Policymakers continue to face major challenges in education finance, despite a history of reforms. Today's challenges include ensuring financial adequacy, maintaining gains in distributional equality, coping with the increasing need for teachers, satisfying public preference for diversity in schools and programs, and devising performance…

Describes the California legislature's education-related response to Proposition 13 and analyzes the likely long-range effects of that response--including its effect on revenue stability, expenditure equality, and school governance. (Author/IRT)

The last 25 years of education policy research in the areas of finance, economics, and law were appraised. Effectiveness was assessed in terms of research contributions to progress on three public policy value dimensions: equality, efficiency, and liberty. (Author/RL)

State aid equalization arrangements fail to alleviate discrimination against lower socioeconomic status children, and merely reinforce the unequal delivery of school services. (RA)

Analyzes the increases in per-pupil expenditures in elementary and secondary education since World War II and discusses factors contributing to the increase. A significant cause is the 86% inflation-adjusted increase in teacher salaries between 1949-50 and 1971-72, although teacher salaries have increased little since that time. (SLD)

Explains how state and federal court decisions dealing with educational equity and adequacy have increased state involvement in school finance. Describes five state education system models: Single system, single system with capacity for charters, district operating system with multiple state categorical aid programs, district operating system with…

Discussion of how three major trends in American education today -- growing politicization; increasing erosion of lay control in local school districts, and the growing lieklihood of more centralized systems of school finance -- are combining to escalate States' involvement in educational policy decisions. (Author)