Policy discussions about teacher quality and teacher "shortages" often focus on recruitment and retention of young teachers. However, attention has begun to focus on the incentive effects of teacher retirement benefit systems, particularly given their rising costs and the large unfunded liabilities. In this paper we analyze accrual of…

This paper focuses on the funding of court-ordered desegregation plans in St. Louis and Kansas City and the ongoing search for fiscal equity. After sketching the landmark dates in desegregating the state's two largest cities, the article explores Missouri's continuing quest for fiscal equity in education. It describes the amount of federal aid…

This paper focuses on the funding of court-ordered desegregation plans in St. Louis and Kansas City and the ongoing search for fiscal equity in Missouri's 522 school districts. It describes how school-funding policy issues in the two cities have dominated legislative discussion in Missouri and lists the landmark dates in desegregating the state's…

This paper examines the effects of spending variations among Missouri school districts on educational opportunity and quality. In an analysis of six matched pairs of Missouri school districts, each higher spending district was compared with a lower spending district of similar size. Data were derived from document analysis and interviews with the…

This study was conducted to see how schools allocate resources during periods of declining revenue. It assumed that the places where staff reductions are made may indicate where districts feel they have "extra" resources. The study was conducted between 1969 and 1983 in Missouri and also includes supporting data from British Columbia.…

The well-being of a large portion of American children is distressingly low. Integrated service delivery--which provides the broadest range of education, health, housing, and social services--is viewed as one way to remedy the failure of public and private institutions to deliver effective services that can ameliorate or reverse these problems and…

This paper examines the effects of enrollment on the financing of small rural K-8 versus K-12 school districts in Missouri and compares the educational outcomes of K-8 and K-12 districts. The sample included 48 K-8 and 48 K-12 districts with K-8 enrollments ranging from 70 to 370 students. Findings indicate that it is more difficult to financially…

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…

State control over education appears to be increasing as a result of state efforts to develop specific programs in response to calls for educational excellence. Missouri's Excellence in Education Act of 1985 was just such an effort and was aimed particularly at improving teaching by attracting and retaining teachers of high quality. The act…

This paper argues that there is reason to reconsider college admissions policies on three levels because: (1) some admissions measures exhibit racial or economic/social status bias, (2) there is evidence that financial barriers exist, and (3) a belief exists that race-blind admissions policies which include adjustments that offset students' social…

Lawsuits challenging inequality in education spending have already overturned many state public-education-funding systems, and many more could be overturned. The equal-spending argument is based on unwarranted assumptions that lead to a series of foregone conclusions. A comprehensive analysis of Missouri public schools was used to study the…

Using extensive data from before and after school finance reforms, the author analyzes the reforms' effects on school finance inequities in Michigan and Missouri, for all school districts and for suburban districts. In Michigan, data from 1970-71 show, the state met neither of two equity standards--equality in expenditure per pupil and fiscal…