The academic and economic benefits of school spending are well-established, but focusing on these outcomes may underestimate the full social benefits of school spending. Recent increases in U.S. child mortality are driven by injuries and raise questions about what types of social investments could reduce child deaths. We use close school district…

Examines the inequities that characterize Texas school finance, the statutory provisions that bring about those patterns of disparity and discrimination, and the political factors that surround State educational policymaking. (Author/JF)

Part of a series on state educational finances, this manual aims to help Texas educators, legislators, and citizens understand school finance reforms by providing them with an overview of their state's public elementary and secondary education financing plan and by exploring selected issues in school finance. An introductory chapter traces the…

This document contains recommendations for changes in the Texas system of educational finance to improve educational opportunity for Mexican Americans and blacks. The report examines alternative methods of finance, focusing on methods for improving the existing property tax system. The authors recommend that the State (1) supervise and control…

In "Edgewood Independent School District v. Kirby," the Texas Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the state's school financial system violated the "efficiency" provision of the Texas Constitution. The court gave the legislature until May 1, 1990, to come forward with a constitutional school finance plan. (MLF)

This special bulletin examines the Texas Supreme Court's January 1995 final opinion in the Edgewood vs. Meno case, the latest in a series of rulings on the constitutionality of the Texas public school funding system. The first article summarizes the majority opinion, discusses the implications of the court's 5-4 ruling, and suggests that further…