Florida voters' overwhelming approval last week of a constitutional amendment slashing their property taxes--and potentially costing schools millions of dollars in funding--illustrates the vexing trade-offs policymakers nationwide face in trying to reduce one of the most unpopular of all taxes. While lower tax bills may make homeowners happy, they…

A PROPOSAL TO IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF FLORIDA EDUCATION BY AWARDING INCENTIVE GRANTS TO PUBLIC SCHOOLS WAS DESCRIBED. THE PRESENT FOUNDATION PROGRAM FOR STATE SUPPORT OF PUBLIC EDUCATION HAS BEEN FOUND TO PROVIDE ONLY MINIMUM QUALITY EDUCATION, PARTLY CAUSED BY THE LACK OF LOCAL TAX EFFORT IN SUPPORTING THE FOUNDATION PROGRAM. IN THE FUTURE, THE…

Relates the experience of Pinellas County, Florida, in achieving a voter-approved property tax increase on behalf of St. Petersburg Junior College, focusing on the use of volunteers and on older person's votes. (MB)

A LOCAL TAX ALLOCATION CORRECTION FACTOR WAS DEVELOPED AND EVALUATED FOR APPORTIONMENT OF STATE SCHOOL FUNDS. THE PILOT STUDY WAS BASED ON A PAPER PRESENTED TO THE SIXTH NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON SCHOOL FINANCE (SPONSORED BY THE NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION). IN THE FIRST PHASE OF THE STUDY, A STATISTICAL METHOD FOR ALLOCATING LOCAL PROPERTY TAX…

Describes the development of Proposition One, which threatened to drastically cut education and social services in Florida by reducing the State and local governments' purchasing power to below 1980 levels. Assesses the potential for resurgence of the legislation, following its removal from the ballot by the State Supreme Court. (GC)

Florida voters have authorized two constitutionally guaranteed sources of revenue to fund the capital outlay needs of the state system of public education. These sources are motor vehicle license fees and gross receipts taxes. (Author)

Florida's state university system recently invested over $76 million in its education colleges. A national accrediting process based on peer review would help determine the existence of high-quality programs. NCATE (the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education), the Florida Department of Education, and the board of regents are…

Explores voting behavior of African Americans and whites in local school and tax referenda to determine whether racial conflict is still a primal factor in noncandidate elections. Results for voters in 5 counties in Florida (over 1,699,000 voters) reveal African-American underregistration and the continuing importance of racial cleavage. (SLD)

Public school funding in Florida differs from other states in a number of important ways. First, Florida has a highly equalized resource-distribution formula resulting in a high degree of interdistrict equity. Second, concerns for quality, while constant, have had to compete with the state's phenomenal growth. Third, the state exercises a much…

This paper presents an overview of Florida's fiscal status and the state of its educational fiscal reform. Five areas of concern are identified regarding educational finance--adequacy of funding, educational reform initiatives including accountability, equity, alternative tax sources, and communication. These issues indicate a highly unstable…

In order to analyze the California system of community college finance within a national context, a review of recent literature was followed by an intensive study and survey of eight states, chosen to illustrate alternative solutions to California financing problems. National trends among community colleges that emerged included (1) the…

This report describes a study aimed to help education advocates protect public schools and services from the effects of certain types of economic development subsidies. These subsidies include cutting companies' property taxes and granting long-term diversions of certain districts' property taxes to corporations making investment in those…