The Texas Foundation School Program, popularly known as the Minimum Foundation Program (MFP), is a very complex approach to school finance. It provides basic assistance in three areas--minimum salaries, operating allowances, and transportation--and additional assistance in two others--vocational education and special education. The state pays…

Virginia's school funding system is characterized by large inequalities and inadequacy. Disparities are increased when the state fails to pay for the full cost of education, state funding is inadequate, facilities are not state-funded, funding rewards only wealthy localities, and ability to pay is measured inaccurately. (Contains 25 references.)…

Illinois' education finance plan is described in the first of this report's two chapters, and the second chapter considers the finance plan's equity. Chapter 1 covers the state's Resource Equalizer Aid Program and the tax revenue it guarantees districts; the calculation of maximum tax guarantees and local shares; the apportionment of state aid;…

This handbook is one in a series prepared for use at workshops designed to help teachers, administrators, and legislators understand and deal with the intricacies of school finance equalization plans in their states. Rhode Island's education finance plan is discussed in this particular book. Chapter 1 discusses how Rhode Island's plan undertakes…

The purpose of this report is to explain and examine the 1974-75 state education aid formula in light of two questions concerning equity: Are the pupils attending the public schools of New York City denied equal educational opportunities because of inequities in the state system of financing public education? If the state system is inequitable,…

The Potential Revenue Index (PRI) emphasizes the per cent of current school revenues that are derived from unequalized local taxation. Its purpose is to measure the extent to which potential school per pupil revenues are equalized by various State school support programs. One can also ask how much additional tax revenue people in low wealth school…

The purpose of this manual is to provide information regarding school finance reform in the state of California to the legislature, governor, education department, teachers, and other interest groups. Chapter 1 briefly describes disparities in expenditures for education among California school districts, first using a sample of school districts…

This paper discusses some of the advantages and disadvantages of three alternative philosophical and practical approaches for the equitable distribution of state aid to local school districts. These three approaches include the "equity through uniformity" approach, implemented through a Full State Assumption school finance model; the…

The current system of school finance in Texas allows for gross inequities among districts. Statistics indicate that although Texas ranks slightly higher than the nation's average in state wealth, its support of schools, as measured by the percentage of personal income devoted to education, ranks about 35th. These figures suggest that the state…

Following a summary of Canadian equity policies and of specific provisions made by Alberta, a statistical analysis of the impact of the existing funding mechanism leads to the conclusion that the alternative models of power equalizing and percentage equalizing would generally increase the level of equalization. (MJL)

An analysis of the relationship between district wealth and tax effort concludes that, while state aid is generally equalizing, the school funding structure is a dual system in which state aid is almost randomly spent in outlier districts. It is inferred that outliers translate guaranteed state aid into lower local taxes. (MJL)

This report outlines the educational fiscal impacts of the present Massachusetts system of school finance and describes the fiscal characteristics and effects of alternative finance plans that are both equitable and elastic in nature. The first part of the report describes and evaluates the overall character of the Massachusetts State-local fiscal…

This document contains papers on: (1) proposals for national foundation programs; (2) state support of education; (3) tax reform at Federal, state, and local levels; and (4) contemporary problems in school finance, including equal educational opportunity, urban school finance, grants-in-aid, Federal income tax rebates to the States, voter behavior…

This summary provides an overview of developments in school finance litigation since the United States Supreme Court's historic and lamentable 1973 ruling in "San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez" that wealth-based discrimination in educational expenditures does not violate the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to…

This study examines the current Texas school finance plan, the finance plans and proposals of other states, national school finance research, and the results of a survey of Texas leaders and educators before presenting alternative revenue and distribution plans, their effects and costs, and possible revenue sources. The study was conducted under…