School district bond ratings, issued on request by Standard and Poor's Corporation or Moody's Investors Service, hold implications for school districts' financial management. Ultimately, the bond rating assigned is a factor affecting the total cost of the bond issuance, related to the principal and interest payments over the life of the debt. A study was designed to identify the relationships among (1) school district bond ratings given by Moody's; (2) various socioeconomic-demographic characteristics; (3) and educational organization and finance variables. The 33 school districts selected for the study were all districts receiving a general obligation bond rating in 1984 from Moody's and located within a standard Metropolitan Statistical Area in the Western region. Each of 19 independent variables was tested for simple correlation; a multiple regression equation was developed to predict Moody bond ratings. The findings indicate that four variables (assessed valuation, total bonded debt, overlapping debt, and fund balance) have a combined predictive value that is highly significant. Combining these four variables yields a strong positive correlation with Moody's bond ratings. Findings also show that socioeconomic-demographic variables (per capita income, median family income, and district population) are not significant in the prediction equation. Therefore, these variables do not discriminate in the determination of a district's bond rating. Other findings and implications are discussed at length. Six statistical tables are included. (MLH)