Given the overall annual expenditure of approximately $250 billion on public education in the United States, there is great interest in how these dollars are allocated to states. This brief presents data showing the relationship between access to public-education resources and community wealth across all school districts in the United States for…

This document provides background information intended to help in the formulation of educational finance policy at the national level. The first chapter discusses variations in spending within and between states since the 1930s; causes for inequitable and inefficient revenue raising and resource allocation; and differences between states in…