Thirteen tables present 1979-1980 data on public school enrollment, revenue sources, capital and operating expenditures, debt, and cash and security holdings. Data are provided for each state, for categories of school-district enrollment size, and for all individual school systems with over 15,000 students. Revenues and expenditures for each state…

The need for reform in school financing is crucial and urgent. The regressive and anachronistic practice of financing schools through local property taxes perpetuates inequities detrimental to students and unfair to parents and taxpayers. Although it is the students in the inner cities that require special, more costly educational approaches,…

The justifications for substantial additional federal funding which were persuasive toward the passage of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) are even more compelling today as cutbacks in educational services occur across the nation. Since 1971 there have been widespread changes in state systems of school finance as a result of…

This report presents the issues and findings of this conference of superintendents from the 43 largest city school systems in the nation. The conference dealt with (1) communication and cooperation between public and nonpublic school educators and their respective school systems and (2) financing the public and nonpublic components of the…

Alaska's public schools cost $1.2 billion in the 1992-93 school year. That included both operating and capital spending and amounted to about $10,000 for each of the state's 119,000 elementary and secondary students. Roughly one-quarter of the state government's general fund budget went to the schools, covering 64 percent of costs. About 30…

After being placed on the back burner during the 1980s, school finance is again a major issue. In the 1970s, reliance on property taxes created school district disparities because of unequal tax bases. Legislative reforms enacted between 1971 and 1985 had the following characteristics: school finance formulas were revamped; the state role in…

Cases related to school finance, in which decisions were handed down in 1982, are reviewed in this chapter. It is observed that the constitutionality of existing state school finance programs was upheld in New York, Colorado, and Georgia, and that litigation was prevalent in the areas of taxation for schools and uses of school revenue. Issues…

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…

Designed for secondary school social studies teachers, this curriculum outline offers suggestions for teaching about the governance, cost, and sources of fiscal support for public education. Although the outline is specifically designed for use by teachers in Michigan, it can be adapted for use in any state. Arranged into five major sections,…

One Supreme Court decision, seven federal appellate decisions, and two district court decisions were published in the area of school finance in 1990. The Supreme Court reviewed a case concerning allegations of school district segregation, along with an ensuing tax assessment issue. Federal appellate courts handed down decisions involving alleged…

In 1989, federal appellate courts ruled on issues regarding a state's role in financing a court-ordered desegregation plan, and the use of federal funds for vocational rehabilitation and Title I programs. State supreme courts decided on the constitutionality of four states' school financing schemes and, in a fifth state, on distribution of federal…

There were no United States Supreme Court decisions in 1987 on either public or private school finance. Cases discussed in this chapter fall under three major topics: (1) public funds for private schools; (2) sources and allocations of public school funds; and (3) school tax issues. Federal appellate court cases included decisions on the…

In 1988, there were two United States Supreme Court decisions regarding school finance. One decision upheld the constitutionality of a North Dakota statute regarding transportation fees, and the other decision ruled that interest from state and local government bearer bonds was subject to federal income taxation. Cases discussed in this chapter…