The purposes of this report are (1) to document the present inequalities in public school spending and local tax burdens and to identify the principal reasons for existing disparities; and (2) to review and evaluate proposals for reform of the currently inadequate public school finance systems. Previous studies, current State and Federal aid programs, and data on New England's property tax base, school tax rates, and expenditure per pupil are examined and analyzed. The following proposals for financial reform are discussed: more equalizing State aid, consolidation of small districts, broader property tax bases, State assumption of public school costs, and Federal block grants. The study strongly recommends reform of State systems to break the dependence of local school spending and tax effort on local wealth. A description of data and sources, calculation procedures for analysis of hypothetical equalizing State aid systems, and a list of selected references are included. (Author/LLR)