Between 2017 and 2022, the U.S. Supreme Court examined three cases that involved states that tried to limit the use of public money to support religious-affiliated schools. The Supreme Court found a violation of the Free Exercise Clause in all three cases. Although not the focus of the Court's opinions, these cases may have created avenues for…

The many small steps that States seem willing to take now to reduce inequity in school spending may, a decade hence, look remarkably similar to the big jump no State dares to make. Full State funding may then have happened after all. (Author)

Discusses the implications of recent educational finance court cases. (JF)

Now that the Supreme Court in Rodriguez has declined to promote instant reform under the Federal Constitution, a central question for resolution is whether courts and legislatures should be urged only to patch up the present school finance system or to replace it with a new one. This analysis urges abandonment of local funding of public education.…

Addresses by noteworthy educational experts comprise the bulk of this report. The main subjects covered by the speakers include full State funding, the Serrano and Rodriguez cases on educational finance, and National Assessment. Business meeting minutes and resolutions are presented in the appendixes. (JF)

Examines three aspects of the State educational finance controversy. Provides (1) a brief discussion of the historical development of State educational finance programs, (2) a discussion of court cases that have precipitated the controversy, and (3) a commentary on some of the approaches that have been suggested as means to help provide equality…

Discusses the implication of recent equal education court cases and sets forth requirements for a successful full state funding plan. (JF)

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

A refutation of an article published by the Yale Law Journal which reported a study of school finance arrangements in Connecticut and influenced the "Rodiguez" decision. Weaknesses in the statistical arguments and theoretical analysis of that piece are discussed as the need for accepting some type of "Serrano" reform is…

Discusses the relationship of the Equal Protection Clause to the underlying premises of State educational finance decisions: (1) the Equal Protection Clause and local government generally, (2) the Equal Protection Clause and geographical classifications, (3) the Equal Protection Clause and geographical classifications of services or benefits, (4)…

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 report summarizes four audioconferences held in the spring and summer of 1993 by the Child Care Action Coalition (CCAC) to address the implication of the Family Support Act (FSA) of 1988. The FSA was designed to reduce welfare costs by providing training, education, and child care to recipients of Aid to Families with Dependent Children…

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…

Argues why U.S. Judge Russell Clark, who is presiding over the Kansas City desegregation case "Jenkins v. Missouri," is an example of an imperial judiciary at its worst. The article explains how the cost of the judge's desegregation plan has adversely affected Missouri's budget for 18 years, has caused undue hardships on its population,…