In February 2015 a large group of scholars, researchers, and practitioners interested in P-20 finance issues gathered in St. Louis, Missouri, for the National Education Finance Academy's annual conference, on February 25-27, 2015 to discuss, among multiple topics, the state of P-20 finance in all 50 states. There were 35 states represented in the…

This paper examines the debate in the U.S. Senate over the reasons why state governments have decreased funding for higher education. One side believes that federal mandates on states to pay for Medicaid have forced them to reduce spending on higher education. The other side believes that states unwisely reduced taxes, which decreased their…

Interest in general school finance reform escalated in the 1970s, with many court decisions ruling state educational finance systems unconstitutional because of extreme variations in local wealth. Many state systems of educational financing were realigned. While the remedies utilized generally served to placate reformers, a resurgence of…

The impact of decreasing enrollments is being felt by many postsecondary institutions. Some institutions have been forced to close as a result of their failure to recognize the problem and their consequent entrapment in a vicious spiral: decreasing enrollments bring about reduced revenues; declining income results in personnel and program…

Capital outlay for school facilities is receiving interest as focus is turned toward all facets of education, including the condition of the physical learning environment. Recent court decisions have brought about some equity in school financing, but the potential exists for future lawsuits for equity in educational facilities. There is a concern…

In 1958, as a result of a preliminary report on educational needs, the education committee of the Kansas Legislative Council: (1) appropriated funds for a comprehensive survey of the State's educational system; (2) selected a 35 member citizens state advisory committee; and (3) directed each county to organize a county survey group which was to…

An overview of the status of rural school financing revealed three major reasons why rural schools are facing major problems in financing today: (1) school reforms have generally failed to address the specific needs of rural and small schools; (2) researchers have failed to recognize small school differences in their collection, classification and…

Any conclusions that community education concepts are "alive and well" were not supported in a study of the impact of state education policies on rural school districts with total enrollments of 350 students or less in the Great Plains Region (Kansas, Nebraska, Missouri, Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota). Survey…