Impact fees are one-time charges assessed to residential developers that help pay for new roads, libraries, school buildings, and other infrastructure needed for growing populations. The fees' highly political nature has pitted school officials against developers, with mixed results. Utah, South Carolina, Florida, and Colorado initiatives are…

This brief provides a summary and analysis of a survey taken in the fall of 2005. The survey was conducted with a distribution of questionnaires to all of the district superintendents in the state of Arizona. Responses were received from 116 individuals out of a population of 227. These superintendents represented all three types of school…

Municipal overburden hypothesizes a causal relationship between high levels of nonschool municipal expenditure (due to high population density, aged housing stock, and other demographic factors) and low school spending levels. This article disproves the hypothesis by estimating demand for education expenditures using a median voter model. Includes…

Over the past 2 years, nearly half the states have been debating the fairness and/or constitutionality of their school financing systems. Renewed interest can be traced to changing demographic and economic contexts since the 1970s and a decade of reform calling for qualitative school improvements. Although school revenue more than doubled between…

These volumes update the three previous editions (published for 1976-77, 1978-79, and 1986-87) by describing school finance programs in 1990-91 in the United States and Canada. This effort is descriptive, rather than prescriptive. The volumes consist of two major parts. The first part provides an overview of the school finance systems in the two…

Between 1954 and 1979, the U.S. Supreme Court resolved over 30 school-segregation cases. During the 1980s, however, the Court placed desegregation on the back burner. Although a 1990 decision upheld desegregation tax increases for Kansas City, Missouri, schools, desegregation lost out in three subsequent cases. (Contains 24 references.) (MLH)

Summarizes the findings of an Educational Testing Service study on the effectiveness of New Jersey's 1976 state reforms to equalize school taxes and to provide a "Thorough and Efficient" education. (SJL)

The combined effect of the "Serrano" decision and Proposition 13 left California school districts with aging, overcrowded facilities. Chico schools won a $18.5 million general obligation bond election for facilities construction. With $11 billion needed for new school construction, California will need to tap local sources. A sidebar…

According to the 21st annual Gallup/Phi Delta Kappa poll, the public favors school choice, a more standardized national curriculum, improvement of public school quality in poorer and innercity areas, reduction of class size in early grades, afternoon school and summer programs for children of working parents, and increased state and federal…

The second in a series on school finance, this report describes the principles of fair and adequate state and local income taxation. The political setting is discussed, and the nature of indiviudal income taxes is explained by examining which states tax income and what income they tax. Tables 2, 3, and 4 demonstrate the expanding school financing…

Secondary school principals should understand school finance basics, including property tax components (tax base, assessment practice, and tax rate); allowable tax reductions and exemptions; common arguments against the property tax; cost and valuation per pupil formulas; educational equity arguments; state foundation programs; and various types…

In 1993, the Michigan Legislature eliminated the local property tax as the main public education funding source. This article explores the details of Michigan's policy process during late 1993 and early 1994, focusing on consequences. Recently, the school property tax was partially reinstated. The system is working, but vulnerable to cash…

Examines voter response to bond issues immediately following Michigan's elimination of its property tax school-funding system. Reviews equity measures, discusses court cases addressing school-facility equity issues, and compares other states' funding approaches. Michigan's system for financing school facilities remains inequitable, and facility…

The third in a series on school finance, this report describes state sales tax practices that, when coupled with individual income and property taxes, add stability and diversity to the local tax system from which public education draws its support. Figures and tables illustrate: the percent of state and local government expenditures for selected…

Despite pessimism concerning school funding prospects and the deep recession of the early 1980s, this article shows that real school revenues during 1980-1988 continued to increase at substantial rates. The first section discusses school revenues in the context of the country's gross national product and personal income from 1960 to 1980. While…