The University of Arkansas Center for Education Reform's report on charter school funding inequities proclaims large and growing inequities between school district and charter school revenues, even after accounting for differences in student needs. But the report displays complete lack of understanding of intergovernmental fiscal relationships,…

During the last 12 months, the highest courts in 5 states have issued opinions on the constitutionality of their public school funding systems. Briefly reviews decisions and discusses possible future directions of this litigation based on an analysis of the 3 decades of litigation since "Serrano v. Priest" (1971). (Contains 11…

This paper examines recent efforts in Arkansas to nullify property taxes. It describes how anti-tax citizens, whose push for a constitutional amendment in 1998 was thwarted by the state supreme court, have vowed to collect enough signatures to place the amendment on the 2000 ballot. The proposed amendment will abolish ad valorem taxes upon real…

Amendment 59 to the Arkansas Constitution established three kinds of taxable property (real, personal, and utility) and prescribed different reassessment and millage rollbacks for each. This has led to a lack of revenue growth from any source except real property. Because more funds are needed to implement new state standards in the schools, 12…

Reviews the history of two-year colleges in Arkansas, discussing their beginnings in the late 1800s, enabling legislation as public junior colleges in the 1960s, expansion in the 1970s, and major changes in the 1990s. Describes current issues of concern, such as institutional mergers, local college governance structures, and state funding. (AJL)

While education is an important legal function of state government, a major portion of school facility funding is still at the local level, and the quality of school buildings varies across most states. This paper addresses how rural school facilities are financed. It provides an overview of school facilities funding in the United States as…

This paper begins with a history of the tumultuous beginning of Arkansas's two-year college system. The system has gone through three major eras with the third, and current, era beginning in 1991. As a result of commissions sponsored by local businesses and the Carnegie Foundation in 1991, legislation was passed to convert 13 of the 24 vocational…