One of the most elusive problems confronted in designing state aid programs for the public schools has been the determination of equitable measures of local fiscal capacity. (Author)

The three primary sources of funding for public education in America are the federal government, the state government, and the community. This paper presents an overview of trends in funding K-12 public education; the stability of local-funding sources; the value of public education as a factor in cost; political influences on school funding;…

Alaska's public schools cost $1.2 billion in the 1992-93 school year. That included both operating and capital spending and amounted to about $10,000 for each of the state's 119,000 elementary and secondary students. Roughly one-quarter of the state government's general fund budget went to the schools, covering 64 percent of costs. About 30…

After summarizing the philosophy behind the financing of public schools, this document reviews the division of legal responsibility for education between the state and federal governments; outlines the state's responsibility for providing an equal educational opportunity for its residents; and summarizes the use of federal revenues, state…

After being placed on the back burner during the 1980s, school finance is again a major issue. In the 1970s, reliance on property taxes created school district disparities because of unequal tax bases. Legislative reforms enacted between 1971 and 1985 had the following characteristics: school finance formulas were revamped; the state role in…

The role of equity in determining how higher education should be supported is considered, along with several approaches for measuring benefits and costs of public subsidies, and conclusions from the literature. Attention is directed to equity in financing higher education because higher education is often advocated as a mechanism for providing…

Cases related to school finance, in which decisions were handed down in 1982, are reviewed in this chapter. It is observed that the constitutionality of existing state school finance programs was upheld in New York, Colorado, and Georgia, and that litigation was prevalent in the areas of taxation for schools and uses of school revenue. Issues…

Chapter 6 of a book on school law, this chapter deals with the financial support of schools. According to the author, the constitutionality of state support programs continued to be a major issue in school finance litigation during the past year. The number of cases involving financial aspects of programs for children with special needs increased,…