In Pennsylvania as in many other states, employee pension costs are a significant source of financial pressure for school districts (Zeehandelaar and Northern 2013, Pennsylvania Public Employees' Retirement Commission 2013). In order to gain greater insight into the nature of Pennsylvania school districts' financial burden related to pension…

This Congressional Budget Office (CBO) paper, which was prepared at the request of the Ranking Member of the Senate Finance Committee, compares athletic departments' share of revenue from commercial sources with that of the rest of the schools' activities to assess the degree of their commercialization. It also discusses the benefits of…

The partial financing of New York State's public schools with a state-mandated tax coupled with state aid based upon county or regional wealth rather than local district wealth would provide greater equalization of both revenues and expenditures of school districts than does the present law. A comparable increase in state aid appropriations under…

Discusses four categories of problems getting the greatest attention among those interested in reforming school finance: fiscal neutrality, cost differentials, individual needs, and municipal overburden. (Author/DN)

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 eight articles that offer a nonpartisan evaluation of the pros and cons associated with tax reforms. They were written by members of the Technical Study Group, which was established by the New York State Department of Education in 1994 to examine the generation of revenue for public education. The work of the study group…

Part of a series on state education finance, this manual is intended to help Missouri educators, legislators, and citizens understand school finance reform by providing them with an overview of Missouri's financial aid to public elementary and secondary schools and by exploring selected issues in financial equity in education. The first chapter…

The Serrano decision has caused policy makers in California to search for departures from the current system of public school finance. Citizen and legislative evaluation of alternative finance systems is being confused by the employment of diverse interpretations of Serrano. Although the Court's decision may appear to indicate clear-cut methods of…

Explores two alternatives to the local school property tax: a power equalizing property tax and a statewide tax. Compares effects on tax burdens and service levels for 13 cities in San Diego County. Available from American Journal of Economics and Sociology, 50 East 69th Street, New York, NY 10021; sc $3.00. (Author/JM)

To help Ohio's educators, legislators, and others understand school finance reforms and equalization plans, this manual provides an overview of the state's public elementary and secondary school financing and explores issues and options in educational finance. An introductory chapter traces the legal history of school finance reform, explaining…

Part of a series on state educational finance, this manual aims to help Connecticut educators, legislators, and citizens understand school finance reforms by giving them an overview of Connecticut's public elementary and secondary school financing plan and by exploring selected issues in financial equity in education. An introductory chapter…

Reviews major issues surrounding funding of Nebraska's public schools and presents an alternative funding system sustaining the goals of local control, tax equity, and flexibility for program quality. The new formula would add an economic factor to the weighting of pupils and alow local tax flexibility for districts losing state funding. (MLH)

Seven papers examine a number of issues that have dominated school finance research and policy in the 1970s. Among the topics covered are revenue limitation movements and school finance reform, with papers on experiences in California and Nevada; educational equity, including equity in both taxpayer rates and expenditures per student; price…

The Potential Revenue Index (PRI) emphasizes the per cent of current school revenues that are derived from unequalized local taxation. Its purpose is to measure the extent to which potential school per pupil revenues are equalized by various State school support programs. One can also ask how much additional tax revenue people in low wealth school…

This report consists mainly of four separate issue papers, each prepared by an individual committee of the Minnesota School Task Force. Topics of the papers include educational management systems, Minnesota's state foundation aid program, school tax levy limitations, and educational overburden. In addition to the issue papers, the report also…