Middle-class educational demands draw upon a view of the state as primarily an agent of the poor. Such a view wrongly aligns the middle class ideologically with capital and foments opposition toward federal social and educational expenditures on the behalf of deprived or excluded groups in American society. (Author/GC)

Examines state revenue sources. Discusses the economic, demographic, and political factors affecting state spending over the past two decades. Predicts that the 1990s will be characterized by annual increases in educational spending that are far less than the expected rate of inflation. (FMW)