This article examines the first regional governance reform in public education, created in the Omaha, Nebraska metropolitan area in 2007. The legislation creating this regional reform, which is called the Learning Community, established a regional governing body, the Learning Community Coordinating Council, consisting of an elected 21-member…

This book reveals that, far from being the result of a groundswell of support for parental choice in American education, the origins of school vouchers are seated in identity politics, religious schooling, and educational entrepreneurship. As the most radical form of "school choice," vouchers remain controversial in education today. The U.S.…

The author makes a pedagogical contribution to optimal income taxation. Using a very simple model adapted from George A. Akerlof (1978), he demonstrates a key result in the approach to public economics and welfare economics pioneered by Nobel laureate James Mirrlees. He shows how incomplete information, in addition to the need to preserve…

Florida voters' overwhelming approval last week of a constitutional amendment slashing their property taxes--and potentially costing schools millions of dollars in funding--illustrates the vexing trade-offs policymakers nationwide face in trying to reduce one of the most unpopular of all taxes. While lower tax bills may make homeowners happy, they…

President Barack Obama submitted his third budget request to Congress on February 14th, 2011. The detailed budget request includes proposed funding levels for federal programs and agencies in aggregate for the upcoming 10 fiscal years, and specific fiscal year 2012 funding levels for individual programs subject to appropriations. Congress will use…

The survey on hot topics was added in 2007 to the annual survey of state directors of community colleges conducted by the University of Alabama Education Policy Center. The survey data provided an opportunity for examining the personal attitudes toward the hot topics and the associations between these attitudes and state contexts. This study finds…

Using research conducted by the federal government's own finance department, social policy groups released the report, "Paying for Canada: Perspectives on Public Finance and National Programs." It showed that deliberate government policy to reduce taxation levels for some of the most economically advantaged groups in Canada had resulted…

The Governor's proposed 2009-10 budget for California postsecondary education seeks to close a two-year deficit of nearly $42 billion. The budget proposes $17.4 billion in spending reductions for 2008-09 and 2009-10, and proposes $14.3 billion in new revenues through tax and fee increases. The budget also assumes $10 billion in external borrowing…

New York's property tax is often criticized as burdensome and inequitable. This report analyzes changes in the property tax from 1993-2006 to assess its impact across regions, property classes and ability to pay. The study examines both statewide trends and variations in trends among local school districts, as well as the role of the School Tax…

Preserving existing revenues is an essential component of the work of school business officials. The broad ranges of activities that can affect school district revenues make identifying potential threats difficult. By understanding the issues that affect school district revenue, school business officials are better able to diminish its erosion--a…

The State Higher Education Finance (SHEF) report is produced annually by the State Higher Education Executive Officers (SHEEO) to broaden understanding of the context and consequences of multiple decisions made every year in each of these areas. No single report can provide definitive answers to such broad and fundamental questions of public…

The State Higher Education Finance (SHEF) report is produced annually by the State Higher Education Executive Officers (SHEEO) to broaden understanding of the context and consequences of multiple decisions made every year in each of these areas. No single report can provide definitive answers to such broad and fundamental questions of public…

This essay proposes a set of non-econometric tests using data on wage structure, school resource costs, public expenditures, taxes, and rates of return to explain anomalies in which richer political units deliver less education than poorer ones. Both the anomalies of education history, and its less surprising contrasts, fit broad patterns that can…

Public school advocates have argued that homeschooling "costs" the school system money through lost per-pupil taxpayer funding whenever a child is homeschooled rather than public schooled. In fact, home school students benefit school districts in the long run by relieving them of the far greater total costs of educating them. In Nevada,…

The State Higher Education Finance (SHEF) report is produced annually by the State Higher Education Executive Officers (SHEEO) to broaden understanding of the context and consequences of multiple decisions made every year in each of these areas. No single report can provide definitive answers to such broad and fundamental questions of public…