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 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 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 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…

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…

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)

There is a growing sense that education policymakers need to become more sensitive to the inequities and inefficiencies associated with the generation of local resources for education, particularly the property tax. The purpose of this book is to provide insight into issues surrounding the generation of local revenues for public education in…

This paper (1) provides background on types of State aid to education and describes how they work, (2) discusses the existing expenditure structure in Illinois, (3) describes and analyzes the fixed foundation (Strayer-Haig), variable foundation, percentage equalization, and resource equalizer formulae used for equalization aid in the United…

A 1973 Illinois school finance reform program initiated a guaranteed tax yield system that can also be considered a district power equalization system. This paper evaluates this reform according to four criteria: permissable variance, fiscal neutrality, reward for effort, and aid to urban areas. Emphasis is given to a discussion of legal and…

The degree of public support for public higher education as measured in constant and current dollars in 1970 and 1980 is examined. Further analysis is made of the change from 1970 to 1980 according to the ratio of the percentage change in appropriations per student to the percentage change in income per student. Aggregate personal income by state…

This publication provides information on the sources and amounts of funds available for prekindergarten through postsecondary education in Illinois common schools for 1996-97. The guidebook contains a summary of fiscal-year 1997 appropriations to the Illinois State Board of Education, as well as appropriations for educationally related purposes…

A growing interest in the use of nonproperty sources to replace an overburdened property tax, actually or psychologically, has been evident in recent years, particularly as school district levies have been running into stiff voter opposition. However, because school districts have relied on the property tax for their major and often sole source of…