Tax revenue flows to California's nearly 1,000 school districts through many different channels. According to the Governor's Committee on Education Excellence (2007), this system is so complex that the state cannot determine how revenues are distributed among school districts, and after reviewing a large number of academic studies in the Getting…

Facetiously proposes to transfer all public school students in Manhattan to the Bronx and Brooklyn in order to increase state school aid to New York City. Briefly describes recent research on how the New York State school finance system might be modified in order to increase its equity. (JG)

This paper examines the impact of Illinois' present system of state aid to education in light of the rationale for its adoption, and argues that the stated purposes of the present system would be better realized through the adoption of a "two-tiered" finance system. The present Illinois system consists of the Strayer-Haig system of…

Examines current trends in school finance reform and discusses some of the recent approaches taken by various states in modifying their educational finance schemes. Describes many of the political pressures working for and against the adoption of certain financial reforms. (JG)

In Robinson V. Cahill, the New Jersey Supreme Court unanimously affirmed a trial court invalidation of the state's school finance statute on the basis of the "thorough and efficient" education clause of the state constitution. This article reviews this case in detail, its genesis, its legal theories, its constitutional guidelines, and…

Investigates alternative measures of school district wealth, focusing on the issue of intergovernmental aid (particularly equalization aid), arguments for and against different wealth measures, jurisdictional implications of the use of alternative wealth measures in four states, and the effect of alternative wealth measures on state equalization…

Available from: C. Elton Hinshaw, Secretary, 1313 21st Avenue South, Nashville, Tennessee 37212. (JG)

Outlines 10 reasons why rural education does not receive appropriate levels of federal and state funding. Discusses strategies to remedy the problem, including creating a cohesive rural vision and organizing a rural constituency. (SV)

This report describes League of Women Voters citizen education campaigns concerning the financing of public schools. Launched in South Carolina, New Jersey, Idaho, Vermont, Missouri, California, and Maine, the campaigns were aimed at raising public awareness and interest in the issues and problems involved in funding public schools, thereby…

The attitudes and opinions of Massachusetts legislators, municipal leaders, and educators regarding school finance reform reveal that school finance reform should aim for equal educational opportunity. Future school aid reform should be a total program to provide aid to cities and towns, gradually raising education's share to 50 percent state aid…

This paper discusses some of the advantages and disadvantages of three alternative philosophical and practical approaches for the equitable distribution of state aid to local school districts. These three approaches include the "equity through uniformity" approach, implemented through a Full State Assumption school finance model; the…

The Connecticut Supreme Court has ruled that public school funding practices in the state have violated provisions of the state constitution. A citizen advisory panel has been at work to develop a comprehensive long-range plan for achieving greater equity and equality in school financing. Its final recommendations will go to the State Board of…

School districts in Illinois are supported by revenues received primarily from local property taxes. Since the amount of local funds generated to support schools are affected by differences in property wealth, and property wealth is inequitably distributed, the funds available to provide an education to each student are also inequitably…

An analysis by the Commission on Financial Postsecondary Education of the system by which New Jersey supports county colleges revealed disparities and inequities among the New Jersey counties in wealth and effort per full-time equivalent student, and current state financing practices that aggravate this problem. In response, alternative state…