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.)…

Describes model, data, results, and implications of a study attempting to clarify two issues previously overlooked in studies of financing public education with local property taxes: (1) that regionally aggregated data may bias test results, and (2) that local fiscal response to grant programs may vary with the wealth of school districts. (SB)