In November 1972, electorates in California, Colorado, Michigan, and Oregon decisively rejected consitutional amendments that (according to their supporters) would have reduced or eliminated reliance on the property tax as a means of financing education. School finance reformers were perplexed by these defeats. This study sets out to explain the…

Detailed information is provided on each of eight states included in a study of selected education finance characteristics. The eight states are Delaware, North Carolina, and Washington (States with a high level of state funding relative to total state-local funds for education); New York, Michigan, and California (moderate state aid states); and…

Among the major objectives of this study was the determination of the nature and extent of disparities in revenues and expenditures among a group of selected states, and among type of districts within and across these states. A common pattern in education finance characteristics was found within each type of district, particularly among central…