This resource guide provides an annotated listing of funding sources for distance learning projects in the following categories: (1) corporate foundations (16 sources); (2) cable television programming sources (12 sources); (3) U.S. Department of Education funding, including Educational Development and Research Centers, Partnership Programs,…

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…

The Serrano case controversy raises the fundamental question: Do differences in school district per pupil expenditures represent cost differences incurred in providing essentially equivalent programs, or do they represent substantial differences in educational offerings? Although the answer is debatable, the California legislature increased…

In this landmark educational finance opinion (presented here in full) the U.S. Supreme Court held that the Texas case was not a proper case in which to examine a State's laws under standards of strict judicial scrutiny. That test, according to the Court, is reserved for cases involving laws that operate to the disadvantage of suspect classes or…

A survey was conducted of at least two educational agencies in each state and territory of the United States in order to determine state policies on concurrent enrollment. Six states did not respond; 17 indicated that there was no statewide policy and that such matters were determined on a local level by boards of trustees or individual…

Wide scale reform in Texas education financing was enacted in 1984 under the Equal Education Opportunity Act (Texas House Bill 72). This paper examines the reform through an analysis of the newly enacted weighted pupil Foundation School Program (FSP) during the 1985-86 school year. Two modes of inquiry were used: correlational analysis between…

This paper evaluates the equity dimensions of a grant-in-aid system based on the Resource Cost Model (RCM), as proposed by the Illinois State Board of Education. The first section is an independent evaluation of the conceptual and legal aspects of the RCM, focusing on both the weaknesses and the strengths of the model. In the second section, an…

The term "school finance" refers to the levying of taxes to obtain revenue for our public elementary and secondary schools. For most people it brings to mind the local property tax, teacher salaries, and, perhaps, some personal memories of their own experiences in the schools. For state legislators school finance brings to mind the…

An essential prerequisite to reform of present methods of financing elementary and secondary schools and the development of an equitable, adequate, and workable system of school finance is a precise understanding of how the existing system works and its impact on different school districts and population groups. This report documents the existing…

This paper describes the processes and methodology used in a 3-year study of the Kentucky Foundation Program--a body of related Kentucky revised statutes which directs the amount and flow of State aid for public education in the State. A technical committee, a research committee, a citizens advisory council, and local study committees examined…

This report presents an analysis of Illinois' present educational finance system and makes recommendations for future legislation to improve the system. The report discusses (1) State constitutional provisions, (2) the present tax structure and alternative taxing methods, (3) proposed distribution formulas and equalization methods, (4) financing…

The Minnesota school finance system is the method by which funds are provided for the operation of public elementary and secondary schools and public postsecondary vocational-technical institutes. This document comprises a reference guide for state legislators to the Minnesota school finance system. It begins with historical and legal background…

California Assembly Bill 65 (AB 65) attempts to equalize California school finance and improve school programs. The school finance portion of the bill arose as a response to the 1976 Serrano v. Priest decision in which the California Supreme Court said that the existing school finance system was unfair to both students and taxpayers. AB 65…

Under Kentucky's Foundation Program Law of 1954 as amended, which provides for classroom units for exceptional children, the number of such units has increased from 99.3 to 29 districts in the Program's first year to 1,060 in 148 of the state's 193 districts in 1969-70. Units for the mentally retarded increased most, from 22.5 to 732.3, in 130…