The "Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965" ("ESEA") requires that school districts provide services to higher-poverty, Title I schools, from state and local funds, that are at least comparable to services in lower-poverty, non-Title I schools. The current Title I comparability requirement allows school districts to…

Throughout the history of publicly-funded voucher programs--enacted and proposed--the impact on taxpayers has been a recurring issue. As the nation's longest-running program, the Milwaukee Parent Choice Program (MPCP) provides an important case study. The fiscal impact of Milwaukee's program has evolved in very significant ways over its 18-year…

Analyzes public school funding patterns across the 50 states to help address continuing fiscal inequity problems. Findings support other investigations showing substantial variations in the distribution of public education revenues within states, even after years of ameliorative litigation and legislation. Equalization is costly and requires…

The report describes the approach used by each of the 50 states to fund educational and related services for children served as handicapped by the public schools. An initial chapter discusses state school finance systems, covering equalization and non-equalization aid formulas used for general aid, and special education funding formulas used for…

Most of New Jersey's charter schools are located in the state's poorer, urban school districts, or "Abbott" districts, and exclusively serve students from those communities. A number of other schools are located outside of the Abbott districts but enroll students from these districts. Specifically, of the 50 charter schools operating in…

This document discusses financial support for public school education in New Hampshire. It is divided into five sections: (1) a history of school finance and property tax; (2) legislative goals and financing; (3) highlights of taxes that affect municipal and school government; (4) public policy alternatives in financing public schools; and (5) the…

Part of a three-volume report on the effects of school finance reform, this volume examines the effects of reform on Michigan school districts' budgets from 1971 to 1976. Econometric models were used. Researchers found a very small "price" effect--an elasticity of -.02. The data provide no evidence that state matching grants stimulate…

The effort-ability index is a means of drawing together the two concepts of effort (reflected by revenue collections and per pupil expenditures) and ability (both to provide for nonschool expenditure functions and for school purposes) to provide a measure of a local government's need for state assistance. In constructing an effort-ability index…

Current expense tax rates, local current expense revenues, total current expenses from all revenue sources, and expenditures for salaries were analyzed in 16 school districts to review the effects of a state statute that significantly modified the formula of state equalization fund allocation. Twenty-four tables of financial information are used…

An overview is provided of the fiscal development of the Illinois public community college system. Introductory sections consider the history and administrative structure of the system, and explain special funding provisions of the Public Junior College Act of 1965. The next section provides a profile of past state appropriations, focusing on…

Utah and its school districts share the responsibility for providing adequate school facilities, including developing feasible alternatives to new construction. School facilities are financed primarily with local property taxes supplemented with limited state aid. During summer 1982, Utah's 40 school districts projected their highest priority…

This study reports on a method of measuring the equity of state school finance systems. This method attempts to determine the extent to which the system makes adequate provision for education, treats equals equally, and treats unequals equitably. It presents a multiple regression approach to the problem, which allows each goal of school finance to…

This handbook was created to provide the user with an informative reference of the various elements contained in the Louisiana Minimum Foundation Program formula. The MFP formula adopted by the State Board of Elementary and Secondary Education and approved by the Legislature determines the cost of a minimum foundation program of education in all…

Utah's school districts receive equalization aid under the state's school finance program. Funds are distributed on the basis of weighted pupil units and are allocated among a number of specific programs. This document consists of tables and graphs displaying the allocation of these funds to Utah's 40 school districts during the 1982-83 school…

Recent analyses of the fiscal impact of New Jersey's Public School Education Act of 1975 have demonstrated that the manner in which education revenues are raised and distributed continues to favor wealthier school districts. While many people believe that most state aid to education funds were allocated to major cities, including Newark, the…