The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) allocated $11 billion per year for 2009 and 2010 for qualified school construction bonds (QSCBs) for America's schools. From a historical perspective, this program is a broad transformation of the federal role in school facility funding. This study examined factors associated with federal…

This case, inspired by a real school district scenario, was developed for use in a graduate-level course in school finance. James Spencer had just been selected as the new superintendent of a low-income, 400-student, rural school district in need of many capital improvements. The previous superintendent had refused to hold a bond election because…

Presents basic legal issues fundamental to revenue bonds (bonds secured by pledging only the revenues from the facility for the payment of the principal and interest on the bonds) authorized for construction of college and university residence halls and provides reference to, as well as discussion of, court decisions giving specific attention to…

This article examines support for school bonds among minority group members in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, which includes the city of Charlotte. A survey was conducted shortly after a bitter court case and shortly before a proposed bond referendum. Support for bonds in the minority community was fairly moderate. Support was not related to…

Chapter 6

Reviews 1972 State and Federal court cases dealing with (1) acquisition, use and control of school property; and (2) construction of school buildings. (JF)

Discusses litigation arising from problems in financing education. Cases are treated separately and classified according to the level of government providing the financing. (Author/JF)

This chapter reviews recent court decisions affecting the following areas of school finance: Federal and State aid, school district spending, tax levies and assessments, and bonding practices. (JH)

Examines voter response to bond issues immediately following Michigan's elimination of its property tax school-funding system. Reviews equity measures, discusses court cases addressing school-facility equity issues, and compares other states' funding approaches. Michigan's system for financing school facilities remains inequitable, and facility…

Reflecting widespread unhappiness with the growing tax burdens in this country, the most active area of litigation reported in the property chapter this year involves various attempts by taxpayers to prevent the construction or remodeling of public school facilities. While some taxpayers fought to keep schools from being built, others in New York…

This chapter, one of seven in the 1973 Yearbook of School Law, reviews the status and development of the law governing school property during 1972. It is based primarily on an analysis of court decisions during that year. The cases divide into (1) those dealing with the acquisition, management, and disposition of school property; and (2) those…

Reviews 1972 State and Federal court cases concerning (1) equality of school finance, (2) State funds for nonpublic schools, (3) local financing of education, and (4) school bond elections. (JF)

Chapter 7 of a book on school law, this chapter deals with 1979 cases involving disputes over property. Cases involving taxpayer attempts to prevent the construction of school buildings dominate this year's property chapter, as they did last year's. Yet, paradoxically, there is also a significant increase in cases in which taxpayers tried to…

Numerous cases in this year's chapter dealt with the same topics of previous years--contracts and bids for building construction, and detachment and annexation of a portion of a school district. The courts continued to attribute board discretionary authority to school boards in school property matters. Intergovernmental disputes over ownership or…