Although analyses of state school finance systems rarely focus on the distribution of funds to students of different races, the advent of racial discrimination as an issue in school finance court cases may change that situation. In this article, we describe the background, analyses, and results of plaintiffs' testimony regarding racial…

Ideally, voters' and state legislatures' policy choices should underlie a property tax system that is straightforward, comprehensible, systematic, and reasonably related to policy objectives. Administration should be uniform and fair. New York State's property tax system lacks a uniform valuation standard and "circuit breaker" and has…

Discusses implications for school finance data collection and analysis of shifting to schools as key management and policy units. Discusses questions that school-level data can answer concerning resource utilization efficiency, effectiveness, intent, and equity. Outlines conceptual issues (school definition and identification) and database…

The return of equity in the 1990s coincided with increased state court activity and a change in national direction. As the New York State Commissioner's Study Group found, there is now more focus on school-level and outcome equity issues. The group recommended that the state develop an outcome-based entitlement plan for all children. (MLH)

Reviews the school-level resource-allocation literature and presents findings of a study of school-district expenditures in Chicago, Forth Worth, New York, and Rochester. Horizontal equity results show that in Chicago, New York, and Fort Worth, most coefficients of variation are below 0.15. Rochester's system is slightly less equitable. For…

Differing methodologies and varied conclusions in research about equity trends in school finance make it impossible to assess national status in school finance reform by using existing studies. Evidence suggests, however, that although horizontal equity has not been achieved, the situation improved from 1940 to 1960 and worsened from 1960 to 1977.…

The questions of whether a number of equality and wealth neutrality measures agree, within the respective groups, when used to assess one state over time or to compare a number of states at one point in time are addressed. The basic analyses in this study show that for four assessments (equality in a state over time, wealth neutrality in a state…

Conceptual, methodological, and empirical issues in resource allocation at the intradistrict and school levels are explored. The ways that equity concepts can apply are discussed, and an empirical analysis is presented of vertical equity at intradistrict and school levels in New York (New York). (SLD)

Explores 1990s educational equity issues and implementation challenges, including outcome measurement, the accountability-governance relationship, resource implications, the need for integrated children's services, and necessary role changes for teachers, administrators, and parents. Summarizes recommendations of a New York State Equity Study…

The Educational Priorities Panel undertook a study to find out how funds are distributed among community school districts in New York (New York) and how resources are distributed to individual schools within the system. For the first time, in 1992, the New York City Board of Education published detailed budgets for the 32 community school…