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…

This research briefly summarizes a series of Ohio Supreme Court litigation known as "DeRolph v. State" and then measures the equality of expenditures among Ohio school districts. "DeRolph v. State" was a high-profile school finance adequacy case. Nevertheless, the high court continuously expressed concern for the financial…

This study examines the use of Schools of Choice throughout Michigan over the last decade. Nearly 100,000 Michigan students use Schools of Choice to attend a school outside of the district in which they live. Participation has grown steadily, with enrollment growing by 144 percent over the past 10 years. This study finds that students enter…

Michigan's state-run school system is the largest and most expensive government service taxpayers support. It employs more than 350,000 people who work in one of the more than 4,100 different entities. The total amount this system expends each year adds up to more than $20 billion. Given the enormity and complexity of the system, it's no surprise…

The State Higher Education Finance (SHEF) report is produced annually by the State Higher Education Executive Officers (SHEEO) to broaden understanding of the context and consequences of multiple decisions made every year in each of these areas. No single report can provide definitive answers to such broad and fundamental questions of public…

The rationale of power equalization approaches are explored, and the advantages, shortcomings, and details of operation are examined. A power equalization bill proposed by the Ohio Legislature is analyzed in terms of projected costs, impact on educational programs, and to bring out problems of grafting power equalization programs onto existing…

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)

This paper discusses four arguments for full State funding of schools: (1) the State is the logical and legal governmental unit to guarantee equal educational opportunity and program adequacy, (2) the State can command revenues through a variety of taxes whereby districts are generally limited to property taxes, (3) students in sparsely settled…

This study examines changes between 1970 and 1975 in the distribution of educational resources within all the States. The analysis considers both the disparities in expenditures and the relation between these disparities and local wealth. The costs of achieving a range of equalization goals are also presented. (Author/GC)

Discusses the interplay of legal, fiscal, and educational policy surrounding the implementation of the New Jersey landmark decision, Robinson vs Cahill. (Author)

This document presents a model for predicting (1) school district spending per pupil, and (2) the effect of alternative forms of school aid. Constrained maximization equations take account of (1) real expenditure per pupil; (2) real school taxes, income taxes, and nonschool property taxes per household; and (3) homeowner's proportion of property…

Discusses possible future trends in educational finance following the California court decision in Serrano vs Priest. (JF)

Study intends to show, "what is saved public budgets by the existence of Catholic Schools. (Author)

Describes some of the major trends and developments in Canadian school finance and discusses some of the key school finance issues presently facing provincial governments. (Author/JG)

Under power equalization, local school tax revenues would be supplemented with State aid in such a way that all school districts that levy the same local tax rate would receive from State and local sources combined the same total income per pupil. To accomplish this the State would supplement local tax collections in low wealth school districts…