Analyzes data on the economic prospects of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin--including demographic and economic trends, trends in taxation systems, school revenue and expenditure trends, and future revenue prospects--and offers prognoses for individual states. Generally, short-range revenue prospects are bleak, and long-range…

This study examined the relationship between operating tax rates and selected socioeconomic variables for Illinois school districts. Districts were separately ranked by operating tax rates and then divided into four equal quartiles--low tax effort, low medium tax effort, high medium tax effort, and high tax effort. Discriminant analysis was used…

After a summary of Illinois finance reform since 1973, the procedures for monitoring school finance equity are described. The tabulated results generally indicate that gains made in equity have been lost. The causes of the diminished drive for equity and future prospects are analyzed. (MJL)

The third annual survey of the Illinois Rural Life Panel included questions on school taxes, improvements to strengthen local schools, satellite technology, extracurricular activities, and career opportunities after high school. Results from a sample of approximately 2,000 residents in the 76 Illinois nonmetropolitan counties included: (1) 54…

Uses ordinary least-squares multivariate regression analysis to determine if jurisdictional types vary in their willingness to increase taxation for schools, employing 892 education fund referenda conducted in Illinois from 1981 to 1989. Outcomes do differ by jurisdiction type. The strongest predictor is willingness to pay for higher taxes. (29…

Using a questionnaire survey and census data, the author sought to determine the effect of administrator effort and other selected administrative, fiscal, and socioeconomic variables on the results of Illinois school district tax elections. All educational tax referenda in the state's unit and elementary school districts in the years 1975-78 were…

Although the Illinois Farmland Assessment Act is not an educational finance reform but is designed to ease the increasing tax burden on the state's farmland and provide a uniform, state-wide method of farmland tax valuation, it has a significant impact on K-12 public school financing because of the relationship between property and public school…

School finance is basic to understanding and improving the condition of rural education. The purpose of this study was to: (1) determine the relationship between educational spending and component property wealth in the rural schools of Illinois; (2) examine potential trends in component property wealth in Illinois; and (3) identify and facilitate…

Prospects for Illinois public school revenues and school district reorganization in the 1980's, considered in the context of prospects for the Great Lakes region as a whole, are affected by fundamental demographic and economic changes. The region has had a lower population growth rate since 1970 than the rest of the country, and a slower growth in…

A reform in the grant-in-aid system passed in Illinois in the summer of 1973 was evaluated. The State Changed on that date from a foundation system to a district power equalization system. Operational definitions of fiscal policy goals, such as fiscal neutrality and permissible variance of expenditures, were established and measurements taken…