Describes the "people's college" as the distinctive nineteenth-century educational institution of the United States. These tax-supported public secondary schools prepared graduates for business and industry but lost their position as the defining secondary institution when challenged to prepare students for college as well as employment.…

Issues in public school finance are discussed in this research monograph, with an emphasis on Texas. Chapter 1 provides a national historical overview, examining the changing definition of equality. The second chapter examines equity challenges in the courts, specifically, two major types of constitutional issues: (1) equal protection clauses of…

This study discusses whether two tax programs instituted by local communities in Michigan to generate local economic activity have adversely affected local public elementary and secondary school financing. Analysis of the effects on school funding of The Plant Rehabilitation and Industrial Development Law of 1974 and its expansion in Act 255 of…

The paper demonstrated the need for American Indian involvement in the education policies affecting Indian children in Alaska. It analyzed the method that the State of Alaska used to fund schools for native children and the administration of the Johnson-O'Malley (JOM) Program by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). Alaska is in a unique educational…

The 13 Chapters in this book address the important issue of how schools and school districts allocate their resources. The book summarizes the emerging research in educational resource allocations (tax dollars) at the district, school, and classroom levels. Following the preface by Lawrence O. Picus, the chapters include: (1) "Why Do We Need to…

This paper presents an overview of Florida's fiscal status and the state of its educational fiscal reform. Five areas of concern are identified regarding educational finance--adequacy of funding, educational reform initiatives including accountability, equity, alternative tax sources, and communication. These issues indicate a highly unstable…

Utilizing data from a random sample of Oklahoma elementary and secondary schools, the study examined interrelationships among the educational process, student achievement, and environment. Results revealed the importance of educational objectives, student backgrounds, high school curriculum, teacher salary, and student density upon optimal…

Discusses the history of the public and private school systems in the United States, their financial development, and the current controversy over whether private school students should come under the umbrella of financial aid being requested congressionally for parents earning up to $30,000 a year. (RK)

Examines how well, after 12 years and 3 billion dollars, North Carolina's counties and their school systems have succeeded in meeting their previously stated needs for school construction. Focuses on the role of state money in helping counties and on the state's efforts to assist the poorest counties in meeting their needs. (Contains 15 figures.)…

This report is an update of the 1984 study "Indiana's Public Schools: An Analysis of the Past and Recommendations for the Future," which examined the Indiana school finance formula used to fund public education in the state. A fresh look is taken as a result of formula changes, and the effect of these changes on expenditures for public…

Although the Illinois Farmland Assessment Act is not an educational finance reform but is designed to ease the increasing tax burden on the state's farmland and provide a uniform, state-wide method of farmland tax valuation, it has a significant impact on K-12 public school financing because of the relationship between property and public school…

In this paper, the political and economic forces influencing attempts to reduce the inequalities in education expenditures are examined. Current programs for financing public education (local, State, and Federal) are compared. In general, State-local tax systems are found to be regressive and improvements are suggested. Inequitability of State aid…

The study reported in this document examined Connecticut's present system for financing public education and analyzed alternative systems. On the basis of study findings, some conclusions are presented in this report concerning (1) the total fiscal system within which Connecticut finances its schools, (2) fiscal disparities in the established…

This booklet is divided into five sections. The first discusses the differences between education costs and education expenditures and the alternative ways that education costs can be measured. The second section shows how economic analysis can be used to isolate and measure the factors that cause differences in education costs. Section three…

Long Island, New York, including Nassau and Suffolk Counties, is a patchwork of small ethnically, racially, and economically segregated towns organized into 126 school districts. School funding patterns and problems conform to racial, ethnic, and class lines. Predominantly minority school districts generally have higher property tax rates, fewer…