This paper describes current school-funding policy issues in Washington State. The first part examines how Initiative 601, an initiative aimed at curbing state taxes and spending, will create fiscal instability for school districts. Difficulties include an expected growth in school enrollment exceeding population growth, an expected growth of…

Maryland community colleges receive financial support from both the state and their local jurisdiction, as well as from student charges and other income from operations and investments. The proportion of local aid varies considerably across jurisdictions. A study was conducted at Prince George's Community College (PGCC) to measure local support…

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…

This report examines various school finance issues raised by the California case of Serrano v. Priest. Chapter 1 focuses on the issue of local control; it discusses four methods of providing state aid to education in terms of how they affect local control of schools. Chapter 2 analyzes different remedies for inequitable distribution of funds and…

The allocation of education funds by State legislatures, the attitudes of legislators on educational issues, and the interaction of legislators with education lobbyists in Massachusetts, North Carolina, Utah, and Oregon were studied in an attempt to explain how educational resources are allocated in the 50 States and how legislators approach the…

Soaring values of agricultural land have created inequities in funding between urban and rural school districts in Minnesota. The state's Foundation Aid to school districts is formulated so that districts of high property valuation receive less Foundation Aid than those districts with low property valuation. In recent years inflation has had…

This guide to 24 government financial assistance programs describes and details the purpose, authorizing legislation, eligibility, method of operation, implications for English and foreign languages, funding, and addresses for current information for each source of assistance. Authorizing legislation for the programs discussed includes: (1) Higher…

The conference dealt with several aspects of the finance problems, such as the theoretical and technical aspects of school finance program design, the development of theory and techniques for working with legislative bodies and with the electorate on school support proposals, and the development of a sound partnership among the governmental units…

This paper explores the ways in which community colleges in the United States are financed. It offers a historical overview of community college financing in the U.S., arguing that from their inception, they have operated on the premise of providing wide access to higher education through public funding at little or no cost to students. The paper…

This report highlights research that examined education finance data for the 1998-99 school year, the year prior to the introduction of finance reforms in New Hampshire, and the 1999-00 to 2001-02 school years, the 3 years following the introduction of reform. Following are some of the conclusions about New Hampshire's education finance reform.…

The Oregon educational system confronts a set of legislative challenges similar to, yet different from, the rest of the nation. Like the rest of the nation, distrust of government runs high, politicians are wary of raising or restructuring taxes, the economy is expanding, and the November 1994 state election shook up the political leadership of…

This paper uses data obtained by a large statewide survey of Massachusetts residents to measure the relative importance of certain motivations in influencing the overall statewide vote on Proposition 2 1/2. Proposition 2 1/2 severely restricts the ability of Massachusetts cities and towns to raise tax revenue for local services. Interviews were…

In this paper, the author attempts to clarify several implicit hypotheses about local school finance reform, set up tests whereby hypothesis validity can be affirmed or rejected, and outline the policy implications of the results. Two mathematical models of school district behavior are examined, and their implications are tested on a sample of 150…

This paper describes the development of school finance reform in Oregon from 1968 through legislative enactments in 1973 and proposals for the voters in 1974. The first section describes the 1973 school finance reform proposal, rejected by voters, as it was originally submitted (whereby the State would have assumed 95 percent of the operating…

In this speech, the author discusses the sources of revenue for public education and the methods of distributing funds for its financing. The discussion is based on the underlying premise that equalizing educational opportunity is desirable. The author points out trends in educational legislation and common philosophical points of view on school…