A major feature of the school finance landscape over the last two decades has been the reform of state school finance systems. Using the case of Maryland's Bridge to Excellence in Public Schools Act, this paper extends the current literature by developing a conceptual framework for residential bidding and sorting and using it to estimate housing…

In response to a challenging state economy, the Texas Legislature implemented the Regular Program Adjustment Factor (RPAF) in 2011, effectively reducing state funding to all Texas school districts. This mixed methods study reveals the effect of the RPAF on a sample of the smallest Texas school districts and their response to decreased state…

This study examines the use of Schools of Choice throughout Michigan over the last decade. Nearly 100,000 Michigan students use Schools of Choice to attend a school outside of the district in which they live. Participation has grown steadily, with enrollment growing by 144 percent over the past 10 years. This study finds that students enter…

Analysis of figures nationwide indicates that local school districts have reduced their reliance on property taxes while states have increased support for schools. However, states face serious fiscal problems, and the property tax system should be reviewed in light of the need for more local support for schools. (MJL)

Analyzes data on the economic prospects of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, and Wisconsin--including demographic and economic trends, trends in taxation systems, school revenue and expenditure trends, and future revenue prospects--and offers prognoses for individual states. Generally, short-range revenue prospects are bleak, and long-range…

New York State's School Tax Relief Aid (STAR) heavily favors wealthier districts, partially reversing equalizing effects that state aid is designed to have. Normally state school aid helps bring less wealthy school districts closer to the standard of wealthier districts. It increases and makes up the lost revenue from taxpayers in the state as a…

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…

To identify 5-year trends in revenues and expenditures for Pennsylvania's 500 school districts and to show how fiscal trends interact with changes in variables such as student enrollment, statewide school financial data from 1984-85 through 1988-89 are analyzed. The figures indicated that financial trends include increases in total district…

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…

Detailed information is provided on each of eight states included in a study of selected education finance characteristics. The eight states are Delaware, North Carolina, and Washington (States with a high level of state funding relative to total state-local funds for education); New York, Michigan, and California (moderate state aid states); and…

This study documents the revenue and expenditure patterns for categories of school districts and for individual school districts. The fiscal impact of the current system, the nature and extent of fiscal disparities, and the factors that contribute to the disparities are examined. An attempt is made to distinguish between disparities among…

This publication provides information concerning New York State's school expenditures, state aid, and local support. Summarized are the finances of major school districts in the school year 1986-87 as well as public school expenditures and state aid since 1963-64. The first section deals with the financing of public education in New York State in…

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.)…