This paper examines the level and inequality of annual per pupil expenditure in the public school systems of the United States and Canada as a function of the centralization of financing. The effect of centralized revenue collection was tested empirically using a sample consisting of the American states and Canadian provinces, while controlling for federal jurisdiction and northern state or territory. It was found that centralization had no effect at all on the level of per pupil expenditure but that relatively less wealthy jurisdictions had more centralized systems. Centralization appeared to reduce the inequality of per pupil expenditure but the magnitude of the effect was small. The centralization variables accounted for only 7 percent of the variance in the coefficient of variation of per pupil expenditure. One of the control variables, annual per capita personal income, had a strong relationship with the level, but not with the variation, of per pupil expenditure. Each additional dollar of personal income per capita resulted in an additional 20 cents of per pupil expenditure. (Author/TE)