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…

This report summarizes the status of states' budgets at the end of fiscal year 1997. The year's strong national economy boosted tax revenues and helped to decrease welfare rolls. Unemployment at the end of 1997 was below 5 percent nationally and real GDP growth was 3.5 percent for the first 3 quarters of the year. These indicators translate into…

School finance reform, in the opinion of many of those concerned, implies a shift away from the local property tax as the main source of revenue for the public schools. The inequities associated with property tax administration and the uneven distribution of property tax wealth within any given state have led to increasing concern about the wisdom…

This report updates developments relating to public school finance legislation in Texas during a special summer legislative session in 1984. Discussion focuses on House Bill 72, which increased teachers salaries, distributed state aid more equitably, increased equalization aid, mandated new programs, and increased state taxes. (TE)

This paper traces the historical development of New York State Small City School District (SCSD) school budget voting policy. State policymakers are currently debating whether to change from representative to referendum school budget voting in SCSDs. Following a historical analysis of the current debate, the argument is made that there no longer…

The history of and issues involved in the implementation of a tax appraisal program in West Virginia are highlighted in this paper, with a focus on taxation litigation since 1975. Efforts of the state legislature to implement a uniform tax system since the 1982 "Recht Decision," which found the state school funding system to be…

Public school funding in Florida differs from other states in a number of important ways. First, Florida has a highly equalized resource-distribution formula resulting in a high degree of interdistrict equity. Second, concerns for quality, while constant, have had to compete with the state's phenomenal growth. Third, the state exercises a much…

This report examines the current school finance system in Oregon and recommends changes to make the system more equitable and less subject to variations in local property wealth. After briefly describing the inequities of the present system, most of the report discusses the committee's legislative recommendations and their probable impact. The…

This report is designed to familiarize the reader with current changes in State systems of public school finance. It describes in summary form the major school finance changes made in 1973 by Colorado, Florida, Illinois, Kansas, Maine, Michigan, Montana, North Dakota, Utah, and Wisconsin. State legislative sessions in these States produced…

This paper presents an overview of Florida's fiscal status and the state of its educational fiscal reform. Five areas of concern are identified regarding educational finance--adequacy of funding, educational reform initiatives including accountability, equity, alternative tax sources, and communication. These issues indicate a highly unstable…

Proposition 13 (Jarvis-Gann Initiative) and its impact on higher education and students are analyzed in this report prepared by the National Student Association. The initiative, passed in California in 1978, fixed property taxes at one percent and allowed the level to rise by two percent annually. It is suggested, however, that the beneficiaries…

This report provides an overview of the State school aid distribution plan passed by the New Mexico legislature in 1974. The previous school finance plan, passed in 1969, and the problems school districts experienced under that plan are briefly described, followed by a discussion of the 1974 legislation. The new plan is a weighted-pupil formula…

During 1996-97 each of the three branches of Wisconsin State government--the judiciary, the executive, and the legislative--experienced substantial activity regarding educational finance policies. After describing Wisconsin's current school-finance system, this paper examines Wisconsin school finance based on the 1996-97 actions of the judiciary,…

In 1994 and 1995, most school-finance legislation at the state level dealt with state aid--36 out of 127 bills introduced in 1994 and 31 out of 212 bills introduced in 1995. This report presents 13 tables that summarize the content of state legislation and identify bills that addressed the formation of study committees, the use of lottery funds to…

After decades of media attention, study, and lawsuits, the solution to inequities in school funding remains elusive. This paper examines several strategies that states have used to try to close the funding disparities in per-pupil spending. It explains the two definitions of equity in the school-finance arena and identifies some important trends…