Director of national finance study presents the conclusions: a small degree of local financing to stimulate innovation and experimentation, but...primary reliance on funding from the state and federal governments" would insure equity in education. (Author/SP)

The committee recommends reducing local property taxes by replacing such revenue with a personal income tax, a uniform statewide property tax at a rate of $1 per $100 of true value, less sales tax exemptions, increased corporation taxes, and a number of smaller revenue items. Key provision calls for basic funding of schools by the State. (Editor)

Current school finance problems are discussed in three papers. The first presents an analysis of the Illinois school finance reform law, providing insights into the operation of the law and an evaluation method for examining finance laws in other states. In the second paper, the relationships between selected features of Michigan school districts…

A 1973 Illinois school finance reform program initiated a guaranteed tax yield system that can also be considered a district power equalization system. This paper evaluates this reform according to four criteria: permissable variance, fiscal neutrality, reward for effort, and aid to urban areas. Emphasis is given to a discussion of legal and…

This report provides a systematic evaluation of the role played by Federal funds in the total local-State-Federal complex of educational finance. The study, conducted by examining 573 school districts in five urbanized States, reports on a 4-year period, beginning with the 1965 fiscal year. The investigation revealed that rural areas receive more…

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…

This paper outlines the historical background leading to the California Serrano vs Priest decision, discusses the implications of that decision, and suggests what might be done to fashion the elements of a State aid formula to meet the tests of equity and fairness demanded by Serrano. The author presents the various equalizing formulas and…

In 1980, the Ohio Board of Regents (OBR) proposed several alternative funding formulas for the state's public-assisted institutions in anticipation of enrollment declines. Two alternatives, involving subsidy ceilings and free competition for students, were dismissed in favor of a third alternative involving a system of voluntary restraints in…

The validity of the basic assumptions underlying student grant programs is examined; namely, whether student aid increases access to postsecondary education for low income groups, whether student aid promotes student choice, and whether financing higher education through students greatly aids private institutions. The major conclusions of the…

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…

The history of Illinois community college operating finance policy is traced from July 1964 with the establishment of a semester hour flat rate grant (FRG) through the following: an equalization formula in addition to the FRG; supplemental non-business occupational grants; supplemental appropriations during a sudden enrollment increase;…

In 1988, 66 of Tennessee's rural school districts brought suit against the state government claiming that the school funding system of a local option sales tax discriminates against rural areas. This study examines the effects of increased reliance on local sales tax revenue on Tennessee's school expenditures. Not every county can support a major…

This article examines disparities in spending and number of employees in North Carolina's school administrative units relative to per capita income in these units. It suggests that North Carolina has been more successful than most states in reducing disparities between low- and high-income units. Six graphs are provided. (DCS)

The Serrano case controversy raises the fundamental question: Do differences in school district per pupil expenditures represent cost differences incurred in providing essentially equivalent programs, or do they represent substantial differences in educational offerings? Although the answer is debatable, the California legislature increased…

This paper examines several major State finance revisions and the procedures used to analyze their impact on school district per pupil expenditures, State aid, and local tax rates in New York, Massachusetts, and California. Policy alternatives include utilization of measures of educational need, municipal overburden factors in the general formula,…