Scientific discoveries repeatedly confirmed the importance of brain growth during the first 5 years of child life. To support early childhood development, California voters passed Proposition 10 in 1998 to collect a 50 cent per pack tax on cigarettes and other tobacco products. Kern County Children and Families Commission (First 5 Kern) was…

Describes New Jersey's budget difficulties, caused essentially by the reluctance of the state legislature to enact tax reforms. Severe cutbacks in state university funds were partially averted due to revenue increases, including a two percent increase in the corporation business tax and a boost in motor vehicle registration fees. (MLH)

Presents the full text of the New Jersey case that found the method of financing public education in that State to be in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. (JF)

It is proposed that New Jersey assume approximately 70 percent of the cost of its public schools. Several other proposals are presented, all a radical departure from current school funding practices. (BW)

1976 saw a number of major fiscal changes occurring in New Jersey, all of which had an impact on educational funding. These include the imposition of a state income tax, a property tax rebate program, and a new system of funding public education that significantly increases the state's share of total education support. Based on a measure of the…

The equitability of current New Jersey State programs supporting higher education is the primary focus of this study. Taxpayer equity is defined as the distribution of higher education costs on the basis of ability to pay and commensurate with the distribution of higher education subsidies. The net effect of all state programs on each income group…

The study reported in this document found no evidence for the minicipal overburden (m/o) hypothesis of urban school finance. The theory asserts that there is a causal relationship between high levels of non-school municipal expenditure or tax rates and low levels of school spending. Demand for expenditure on education in a sample of school…

Public schools in New Jersey are financed primarily by local property taxes. This system of finance is unconstitutional, according to the New Jersey Supreme Court, and therefore it must be revised. The proposals for revision range from very slight increases in state school aid to complete state financing of schools, but all of the proposals shift…

An analysis by the Commission on Financial Postsecondary Education of the system by which New Jersey supports county colleges revealed disparities and inequities among the New Jersey counties in wealth and effort per full-time equivalent student, and current state financing practices that aggravate this problem. In response, alternative state…

This analysis is the first in a series of seven reports on the ways that the urban fiscal crisis has affected children. It discusses the issue in general, and provides an overview of the other reports. Over the past 100 years, all levels of government have developed public services responsible for the health, education, protection and physical and…

Problems associated with state support for community colleges are discussed with particular emphasis on situations where local college districts are responsible for providing a portion of total institutional revenue. Three of these problems, relating to the equity and efficiency of how state aid is distributed, are: (1) the integration of direct…