Concerns the ability of the New Jersey school reform groups that won in court in the Robinson v. Cahill decision to gain access and the requisite resources to affect the new school finance formula and the development of "thorough and efficient" guidelines. (Author/IRT)

Summarizes the activities of the 97th Congress on taxes. Reviews 1981 enactments and 1982 proposals regarding tax cuts, tax increases, indexing of tax brackets, interest earnings, depreciation, and business incentives. Examines tax administration problems and flat-rate tax proposals and discusses the progressive income tax. (Author/RW)

Summarizes state tax relief legislation that was supported by the Joint State Legislative Committees of the National Retired Teachers Association and the American Association of Retired Persons. Notes that generating public and political support for increased funding for education will be a challenge in the current fiscal climate. (Author/IRT)

Traces the presence of tax burden equity and educational funding equity interests in recent court rulings in order to place Connecticut's Horton vs Meskill in context. Also describes the California and New Jersey state legislatures' responses to similar state Supreme Court rulings on school finance. (Author/IRT)

Reviews recent state and federal rural school funding litigation. Concludes that while rural school advocates have been relatively successful in the courts, efforts to obtain adequate state funding for rural schools through the legislative process are only partially successful. (Contains 16 references.)(PKP)

In October 1994, President Clinton signed into law a substantially modified version of the Improving America's Schools Act (IASA), which extends and amends the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and related legislation. This article describes Title I LEA grant formulas before the 1994 amendments, major criticisms of these formulas, and an…

Examines Michigan's attempt to abolish the school property tax and implications for New York State policymakers. Michigan substantially reduced the local property tax for local school operations, adopted a permanent set of tax and revenue limits, and devised a problematic assessment cap. Totally eliminating the local school property tax may be…

Examines adequacy and stability concepts found in education finance reports and Oregon reform efforts and legislation, highlighting funding for safety net districts. The concept in the governor's commission report are largely undefined, making operationalism and measurement difficult. A centralized, comprehensive database would aid future research…

Examines the U.S. Department of Education's Impact Aid program, a financial subsidy program for military children attending local public schools, specifically the influence of the complex funding formula combining the basic support program (BSP) with the learning opportunity threshold (LOT) on the distribution of aid to school districts. (PKP)

Describes history of state school-finance litigation and legislative efforts related to the construction and renovation of school facilities in New Jersey. Provides a detailed description of the Educational Facilities Construction and Finance Act. Discusses current status and challenges in implementing the act, concluding with an analysis of…

Examines state- and district-level spending patterns in Tennessee to assess the extent to which the Basic Education Program (BEP) funding formula has affected spending in the state and spending in districts with varying characteristics, for example, poverty status of students, school district size. Suggests that BEP led to greater education…

Examines Georgia's use of the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax for Education (ESPLOST). Finds that ESPLOST increases revenue disparities among districts. Discusses policy implications. (Contains 36 references.) (PKP)

Examines three school districts [Richmond Unified School District (California), Coachella Valley Unified School District (California), and White Pine County School District (Nevada)] that faced financial disaster and then worked their way back to solvency. All three overspent revenues in the general fund, had unrealistic budgets, and lacked…

Since "Serrano v. Priest" (1971), 17 federal and state supreme court decisions have discussed rural schools' unique funding dilemmas. Recent cases illustrate the escalating battle between rural and metropolitan districts over financial resources. If rural schools' fiscal situation continues to deteriorate and state lawmakers shun…