Nine experts examine the nature and administration of the property tax, analyzing its effects on educational opportunity, land use, racial residential patterns, central city finance, neighborhood deterioration, and low income housing. The so-called circuit-breaker, a form of property tax relief that has rapidly come into widespread use, is viewed…

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 paper discusses some of the questions and issues implied in the California Serrano vs Priest decision. Note is made that if courts adopt a strict definition of uniformity as a criterion of equality, States may have to abandon local taxes and establish systems of full State funding plus federal aids. On the other hand, if courts adopt dynamic…

School districts in Illinois are supported by revenues received primarily from local property taxes. Since the amount of local funds generated to support schools are affected by differences in property wealth, and property wealth is inequitably distributed, the funds available to provide an education to each student are also inequitably…

This report is an update of the 1984 study "Indiana's Public Schools: An Analysis of the Past and Recommendations for the Future," which examined the Indiana school finance formula used to fund public education in the state. A fresh look is taken as a result of formula changes, and the effect of these changes on expenditures for public…

The task force was charged with the responsibility of reexamining the whole base for financing public elementary and secondary education in Wisconsin, making recommendations for shifting the base of elementary and secondary school funding from the local property tax to other means of public support to eliminate the disparity of educational…

With reference to the case of Ohio, this paper considers whether various types of state grants affect school districts by increasing total spending or by providing tax relief. Regression equations are used to estimate the effects of categorical and general purpose assistance on local tax revenue and on outlays for teacher salaries. (MJL)

This report, volume I of an indepth study of special levy problems in Washington State, represents the results of a study commission examination of finance and curriculum and contact with commission counterparts in the Federal Government, and a review of the work of other States. Included in this volume are (1) a survey of Washington State's…

Among the major objectives of this study was the determination of the nature and extent of disparities in revenues and expenditures among a group of selected states, and among type of districts within and across these states. A common pattern in education finance characteristics was found within each type of district, particularly among central…

In 1969, the governor made a series of recommendations to the Legislature and to the people of Michigan regarding changes in the method of funding elementary and secondary schools. The current system, which relies heavily on the local property tax, has produced sizable inequities of educational opportunity among the children of the State. Since…

Full State assumption of educational finance would (1) distribute educational resources according to children's learning needs, rather than local property values, (2) provide a wide range of subject and topic choices to students, (3) remove financial barriers now confining low income areas, (4) encourage State governments to raise educational…

In this report, the author indicates how the Texas school finance system works to the detriment of those districts in which Mexican American students are concentrated. Data for the report were taken from the Civil Rights Commission's 1969 survey of education for Mexican Americans in the southwest and the Department of Health Education and…

This paper uses data obtained by a large statewide survey of Massachusetts residents to measure the relative importance of certain motivations in influencing the overall statewide vote on Proposition 2 1/2. Proposition 2 1/2 severely restricts the ability of Massachusetts cities and towns to raise tax revenue for local services. Interviews were…

The success of Proposition 13 in California gave impetus to similar tax limitation efforts in other states. Information included in this booklet is intended to help local, state, and federal education finance policy-makers wrestling with this issue. The first section summarizes efforts in each state to limit taxation and expenditure both by…

In this paper, the author attempts to clarify several implicit hypotheses about local school finance reform, set up tests whereby hypothesis validity can be affirmed or rejected, and outline the policy implications of the results. Two mathematical models of school district behavior are examined, and their implications are tested on a sample of 150…