Discusses implications of the Serrano vs Priest decision. (JF)

In the Serrano decisions, the courts found California's method of financing schools to be unconstitutional and gave the state until September 1, 1980 to reduce wealth-based expenditure differences to substantially less than $100 per pupil. The courts found three features of the state's system to be particularly onerous--the failure of the state to…

This is volume I of a two-volume study of the constitutionality of the K-12 funding system in Illinois. In this volume, seven steps are presented in the issues and outcomes of the major judicial challenges to systems of state aid to public schools. The first chapter looks at the history of state aid litigation up to the time California became the…

In this report, the author describes and examines some of the policy alternatives available for the implementation of an equitable system of school finance. The author provides statistics that trace the historical disparities in interdistrict school expenditures, describes recent court challenges to school finance systems, and discusses both full…

Many states have found that financing public schools through local property taxes is unlawful under their state constitutions; as a result, they must consider using state tax revenue as the primary source of local school-district funding. The recent California experience provides a sample of political economic behaviors used to respond to the…

There appears to be growing concern that state systems of financing capital outlay may be vulnerable to successful legal challenge. Outlines considerations for the development of a defensible conceptual base for allocating scarce capital outlay funds. (Author/MLF)

This document compiles several studies on educational finance, including "Federal Aid to Education: Who Benefits?""The Financial Aspects of Equality of Educational Opportunity," and "Legislator's Guide for School Finance." Also included are two briefs filed in the San Antonio vs Rodriguez case and a listing of current…

This publication contains papers by experts on various current problems in the field of education finance. The authors and their topics are: (1) Francis Keppel, "The Cost-Revenue Squeeze"; (2) Steven J. Weiss and Deborah Driscoll, "Comparative School Finance Data, New England States vs. California"; (3) Arthur E. Wise,…

This book offers an overview of educational finance law and examines constitutional challenges to state aid plans. Chapter 1 provides an introduction to education finance litigation, including the early history of education finance litigation and early education finance theory. Chapter 2 discusses the states' responsibilities for providing equal…

1974 is a watershed for New Jersey public schools, a time when the State is under court order to reform its discriminatory and ineffective method of raising and distributing educational revenues. The existing approach to financing education in the state of New Jersey assigns higher educational resources to pupils in richer school districts, yet…

This book contains conference papers by experts in educational administration, law, and economics. Six of the papers are devoted to a legal analysis of fiscal inequality among school attendance units, school districts, and States. These contributions are: (1) K. Forbis Jordan and Kern Alexander, "Constitutional Methods of Financing Public…

This summary provides an overview of developments in school finance litigation since the United States Supreme Court's historic and lamentable 1973 ruling in "San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez" that wealth-based discrimination in educational expenditures does not violate the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to…

Unlike many other states, Michigan's school-finance reform was triggered not by a lawsuit but by legislative action that eliminated the property tax as a revenue source for public schools. Changes included an increase in the sales tax from 4 to 6 cents and a move to a foundation grant formula, which included a state foundation-allowance target for…

This institute report contains the 13 major addresses grouped under (1) the political setting, (2) the fiscal setting, (3) the legal setting, and (4) operational problems. Three speakers first address themselves to the problems inherent in educational governance operating within a complex political framework, in light of the fact that governance…