Under the basic plan, taxpayers in owner-occupied residences would indicate their preferences by directing their school taxes to the public school of their choice within the district. The various schools would be dependent on patron choices for a small portion of the school budget. (Author/IRT)

Summarizes state tax relief legislation that was supported by the Joint State Legislative Committees of the National Retired Teachers Association and the American Association of Retired Persons. Notes that generating public and political support for increased funding for education will be a challenge in the current fiscal climate. (Author/IRT)

An account of a successful local tax refendum effort to support quality education. (Author)

Examines Michigan's attempt to abolish the school property tax and implications for New York State policymakers. Michigan substantially reduced the local property tax for local school operations, adopted a permanent set of tax and revenue limits, and devised a problematic assessment cap. Totally eliminating the local school property tax may be…

We need to get clear agreement in the United States on what students should know and be able to do. We also need to invest in education. An initiative filed in Colorado earmarks a one-cent sales tax for education. (MLF)

Impact fees are one-time charges assessed to residential developers that help pay for new roads, libraries, school buildings, and other infrastructure needed for growing populations. The fees' highly political nature has pitted school officials against developers, with mixed results. Utah, South Carolina, Florida, and Colorado initiatives are…

This brief provides a summary and analysis of a survey taken in the fall of 2005. The survey was conducted with a distribution of questionnaires to all of the district superintendents in the state of Arizona. Responses were received from 116 individuals out of a population of 227. These superintendents represented all three types of school…

A not-so-friendly suit brought in 1874 produced a landmark decision that paved the way for today's public high schools. (Editor)

For the first time in U.S. history, a few mainland States finally enacted school finance laws that will achieve substantial intrastate resource equity, and a larger number of States took important steps in this direction. These States have translated the theory of equity into fact and, as such, they provide the operational models of school finance…

AN ANALYSIS OF EDUCATIONAL PROBLEMS, THE COST OF SOLVING THEM, AND METHODS OF TAXATION BY WHICH ADEQUATE REVENUES COULD BE OBTAINED WAS MADE BY THE NATIONAL COMMITTEE IN RESPONSE TO REQUESTS FROM NEW JERSEY RESIDENTS. THIS INITIAL REPORT HAS VALUE NOT ONLY TO CITIZENS OF THAT STATE BUT ALSO TO ALL AMERICANS INTERESTED IN IMPROVING THE SCOPE,…

This research brief is the fourth of a series of four that list and index items by subject and State. Over 4,000 legislative items are listed. No legislation that was vetoed or that failed, nor any carryover legislation, is listed in this current series. (Author/JF)

Equity must be viewed in terms of the pupils to be served in the schools, the citizens who support the schools, and general society which reaps the benefits from the public schools. Various sections of this pamphlet address themselves to the philosophical bases of the public schools, some of the directions provided by the courts, current financing…

State assumption of all responsibility for financing education would enhance equalization of educational opportunity, fix accountability for educational finance with the governor and the State legislature, accelerate measurement of student achievement, eliminate burdensome property taxes, and undercut the fiscal logic that now supports…

As demographic subgroups have become more homogeneous in their voting preferences, attitudes of individuals have become important factors in explaining voting tendencies. Voting on tax issues becomes a way of expressing reactions to the quality of services received and to the politics of government officials. (Author)

The small school district of Channahon, Illinois challenged the assessed valuation of a local oil refinery, won the appeal, and negotiated a settlement with the company to stabilize the assessed valuation through 1990. (MLF)