Citizens in rural Nebraska filed a lawsuit challenging the reliance on local property taxes for school funding that has led to inequities between rural and urban schools. One answer may be to give smaller school districts more money through a state system of taxation and equalization aid to improve school standards. (LP)

Passage of a 1990 tax limitation measure made Oregon one of few states since 1978 to mandate reductions in local property taxes. A survey of Oregon school superintendents revealed their fears about reduced local discretion and use of revenue management/forecasting tools and rational, goal-oriented cutback approaches. (Contains 36 footnotes.) (MLH)

This special report reviews problems in Illinois' education funding system and discusses potential solutions to these problems. The report notes that the fundamental problem with the current education finance system is an over-reliance on local property taxes. Although property taxes are a relatively stable and lucrative revenue source,…

Fiscal year appropriations for 1982-1983 and supporting data are presented for comparative analysis of state financing of public higher education. M. M. Chamber's annual data on state higher education appropriations are used. The data are based on a model of state rankings for seven independent factors plus eight derived measurements, which…

The various accumulating problems in Canadian school finance are not independent occurrences but part of a national trend that reflects important shifts in public philosophy. The first chapter briefly outlines the basic elements of educational finance: the sources of revenue, the amount of revenue, the allocation and budgeting of that revenue, and…

This report describes and evaluates the North Dakota state/local fiscal system, especially as it relates to financing public education. It identifies and evaluates various fiscal policy options for raising additional tax revenue for support of schools and other public services in ways consistent with the basic characteristics of the North Dakota…

The analytical problems faced by gross interstate comparisons of higher education funding are reviewed, the overall usefulness to decision-makers of interstate comparisons, and other approaches to comparative analysis are considered. It is claimed that the usefulness of gross interstate comparisons is limited, since both technical and structural…

School-business partnerships are flourishing across the country, but many schools and students are not being reached by these efforts. It is time now to look beyond the individual partnership programs and focus on systemwide issues in order to make the vast and fundamental improvements needed in public schools. Some corporate communities are…

Using a questionnaire survey and census data, the author sought to determine the effect of administrator effort and other selected administrative, fiscal, and socioeconomic variables on the results of Illinois school district tax elections. All educational tax referenda in the state's unit and elementary school districts in the years 1975-78 were…

Formed by the Connecticut legislature to monitor the state's educational aid plan, the Educational Equity Study Committee in this report joins with the state Board of Education in recommending amendments to Connecticut's 1979 school finance reform law, involving changes in the state's Minimum Expenditure Requirement (MER) plan and Guaranteed Tax…

A model that is designed to measure and provide early understanding of the principle factors governing state support of public higher education and which is based on M. M. Chamber's annual data on state higher education appropriations is described. Design principles of the model are identified. The model consists of seven independent factors, four…

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…

This publication is an update and expansion of earlier studies on the legal organization and administration of school districts in South Carolina. The treatment of this topic progresses from the general to the specific and includes detailed data about the geographical, organizational, financial, and legal aspects of the topic. The report attempts…

This report describes and evaluates the record of reform in several states that have revised their school finance systems since 1971. The introductory chapter provides an overview of reform's recent successes, shortcomings, and prospects. Six subsequent chapters offer a close look at its main features. Chapters 2 and 3 analyze new school aid…

THE EFFECT OF SCHOOL DISTRICT SIZE UPON SCHOOL COSTS WAS INVESTIGATED. FINDINGS INDICATED THAT (1) THE SIZE OF THE SCHOOL DISTRICT POPULATION WAS DIRECTLY RELATED TO POTENTIAL EFFICIENCY, (2) VERY SMALL OR VERY LARGE DISTRICTS WERE ADVERSELY AFFECTED BY SIZE, AND (3) DISTRICTS WITH A TOTAL POPULATION BETWEEN 20 AND 50 THOUSAND WERE NOT ADVERSELY…