Discusses the role of the national values of efficiency, choice, and equity in the adoption and implementation of the federal education block grant program and the negative effects on school desegregation. Urges policymakers to consider policy goals, and not just policy instruments, when considering future proposals. (FMW)

American educational policy is based on three preeminent values: equity, efficiency, and choice. The problem is that these values are often antithetical: an emphasis on one deemphasizes the others. Coming to an acceptable balance among all three values is therefore the essence of public policymaking. Accordingly, this paper takes one of these…

Presents impressions of the first two years' impact of the block grant provisions of Chapter 2 of the Education Consolidation and Improvement Act on nine public schools districts and four private schools in Michigan. Briefly discusses Chapter 2's effects on intergovernmental relationships and major state actions and decisions. (PGD)

The fiscal impacts and redistribution effects of the recently enacted (1981) federal education block grant on 525 elementary and secondary school districts in Michigan were examined using a quasi-experimental time-series design and multiple regression and analysis of covariance techniques. Implications of changes in federal policy are discussed.…

The 1981 enactment of the Education Consolidation and Improvement Act Chapter 2 (ECIA-Chapter 2), which consolidated 28 separate categorical federal aid programs into a single block grant, has had policy and fiscal impacts in Michigan. Policy debate centers on the inherent tension between equity, particularly equity defined as equal treatment of…