This article explores the passage and failure of the 1973 Illinois Resource Equalizer formula which was designed to reduce disparities in school finance by breaking the connection between local wealth and school revenue. It argues that two sets of goals drove passage of the new law--equity and local property tax relief--and they came into conflict…

This monograph is based on a conference that was held under the sponsorship of the Midwest Administration Center, Department of Education of the University of Chicago, in February 1977. The conference centered on varying interpretations of the role of the school, the home, and the state in the governing and financing of education in Illinois and…