A major feature of the school finance landscape over the last two decades has been the reform of state school finance systems. Using the case of Maryland's Bridge to Excellence in Public Schools Act, this paper extends the current literature by developing a conceptual framework for residential bidding and sorting and using it to estimate housing…

This article examines the first regional governance reform in public education, created in the Omaha, Nebraska metropolitan area in 2007. The legislation creating this regional reform, which is called the Learning Community, established a regional governing body, the Learning Community Coordinating Council, consisting of an elected 21-member…

Tests an interest-group model of public spending by using variations in spending levels across states and counties. Results provide support for this model, in that education spending increases as the number of parents in the electorate increases. An analysis of Texas counties shows that areas with relatively large elderly populations spend less on…

Presents a portfolio model for management principles that can be applied to state and local government tax structures to determine how governments can minimize tax variability for any desired rate of growth of revenues and apply the principle to the issue of funding education. (Author/MD)

This report examines the theoretical result of a change in the way Oklahoma could fund its common schools if it used a Texas tax system that relied heavily on an ad valorum tax structure or another taxation system. Using data from the 1999 school year, calculations of state aid for the more than 540 school districts were made for four scenarios:…

State education policymakers, polled about potential school finance problems for the 1980s, ranked changes in state general aid formulas and changes in the tax structure for education at the top of seven subject areas. (Author/MLF)

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)

This paper analyzes obstacles to educational equity by focusing on state policies and local actions in Massachusetts from 1978 to 1983. Three obstacles are examined in particular: conflicting state-level priorities, the tax revolt movement, and local autonomy. (TE)

This paper uses survey data collected during the 2 weeks following the November 4, 1980, election to answer questions concerning how local public education should be funded in the wake of the passing of Proposition 2 1/2, a measure that requires high tax rate cities and towns to reduce property tax levies by at least 15 percent per year until they…

Outlines how the state of North Dakota is developing a system for incorporating the revenue from the coal and petroleum industries into the tax base for local school support as part of an equalization plan for supporting basic services during a depressed economic period. (MD)

Describes tax increment financing (TIF), an entrepreneurial strategy with significant fiscal implications for overlapping taxing jurisdictions that provide these functions. Statistical analysis of TIF's impact on the finances of one Illinois county's school districts indicates that municipal use of TIF depletes the property tax revenues of schools…

Examines older adults' support for K-12 education, using a national panel of counties over time. The elderly do have the potential to affect educational spending indirectly through where they live. Support for education spending may depend on how the elderly are distributed relative to children among counties. (Contains 15 references.) (MLH)

This study attempted to determine the knowledge of Tennessee public school finance on the part of teachers, businessmen, school administrators, elected officials, and industrial workers. Students in a class on public school finance administered the questionnaire to over 1,000 subjects. Results revealed that respondents feel that public education…

Simulation of the effects of five selected fiscal constraint programs was compared. The authors conclude that fiscal limits are unlikely to have large effects on a state's total economic activity, and any impacts may be negative. The revenue sources and expenditures most affected are policy decisions; education is a significant loser under…

Findings of a study that determined the relationship between property taxes and individual adjusted gross income and that examined the feasibility of using these data to define an "income wealth" measure by school district are presented in this paper. Illinois Department of Revenue computer tapes for the tax years 1986-88 were analyzed;…