Two years after the U.S. Department of Education awarded $650 million in Investing in Innovation grants, some of the winners are still facing financial uncertainty. Other grantees have also encountered problems with matching funds coming through, and some nonprofit grantees have been forced to contribute their own money to match the initial…

Congress has recently focused on the complex relationship between federal student aid, states' funding appropriations for higher education, and institutional tuition and fee levels. Fueling this focus is the ongoing cost shit in public higher education, from states to students and families, as well as to the federal government via student aid…

This paper, one of three related documents, examines the distributions of general revenues and instructional expenditures across school districts in Michigan. It discusses the equal yield formula for the funding of public schools and examines how the formula has accomplished its objectives. The data indicate success in reducing the effects of…

This booklet discusses the Horton v. Meskill case in which the Hartford, Connecticut, Superior Court ruled that the state's school financing system did not comply with state constitutional provisions concerning equal protection and education. It then outlines the legislature's reaction to the ruling--the guaranteed tax base (GTB)--and discusses…

This report briefly summarizes the background, the criteria and procedures for evaluation, the findings, and the recommendations of the Tennessee School Finance Equity Study that, during the two year period ending in November, 1979, examined Tennessee's present program for financing the public schools, kindergarten through grade 12. The purpose of…

Addresses significant components of Connecticut's new education finance law: the guaranteed tax base, educational need, the minimum expenditure requirement, and educational equity. (Author/IRT)

This article presents a case study of the school finance controversy in Texas with special emphasis on the results of two school finance bills enacted in successive sessions of the legislature. (Author/IRT)

The system used in Illinois for financing public education underwent major reform in 1973. At that time four alternative formulas for determining equalization aid levels were established. In 1980 three of these formulas were eliminated and only a modified version of the Resource Equalizer formula remains in use. This report provides an overview of…

This publication is intended to provide policy-makers, educators, and concerned citizens with a practical introduction to pupil weighting systems--what they can accomplish, what factors must be taken into account as they are developed, and what problems can hamper their implementation. Pupil weighting systems are alternative approaches to funding…

This description of the Tennessee equalization plan consists of (1) a description of Tennessee's current public school finance program; (2) recommendations for change in the existing program; (3) a description of the conformance of the recommended changes to the equity guidelines developed by the United States Commissioner of Education pursuant to…

This discussion begins with the five major political values that were reflected in the 1973 reform of the Illinois school aid system. The lawmakers wanted to spend state dollars for education in a way that would improve student and taxpayer equity, maintain local control of school districts, aid poverty-impacted districts, not discriminate against…

This practicum report describes a step-by-step plan followed by the author and his employer, the Massachusetts Teachers' Association (MTA), to correct the fiscal disparities that existed in the Massachusetts school finance system and to provide property tax relief to Massachusetts taxpayers. The plan included assessing the existing Massachusetts…

School finance reform litigation has been an important issue among educators and legislators over the last decade. A history of the reform movement is given in two phases from 1965 to 1979. A summary and analysis of reform legislation concludes the report. (JN)

Part of a series on state educational finances, this manual aims to help Texas educators, legislators, and citizens understand school finance reforms by providing them with an overview of their state's public elementary and secondary education financing plan and by exploring selected issues in school finance. An introductory chapter traces the…

This report, one of several companion documents, contains a summary of the research and analysis of a North Dakota school finance study funded by Public Law 93-380, Education Amendments of 1974. The purpose of the study was to collect and examine certain data, to report findings and concerns growing out of that analysis, and to offer study group…