This booklet examines specific legislation, court decisions, research and other activities of school finance reform in 1978-79. It also speculates about school finance reform activities in the states in 1979-80. The first chapter summarizes important school finance legislation. School finance litigation is examined in the second chapter. Research…

Over the past 2 years, nearly half the states have been debating the fairness and/or constitutionality of their school financing systems. Renewed interest can be traced to changing demographic and economic contexts since the 1970s and a decade of reform calling for qualitative school improvements. Although school revenue more than doubled between…

Analysis of figures nationwide indicates that local school districts have reduced their reliance on property taxes while states have increased support for schools. However, states face serious fiscal problems, and the property tax system should be reviewed in light of the need for more local support for schools. (MJL)

Factors associated with state school finance court cases that are most pressing in an urban environment are how the fiscal capacity of a school district is determined, the greater concentration of students with a need for more costly programs, and the high costs of providing services in urban districts. (Author/MLF)

The history of school finance reform in the last 75 years provides a context for considering future school finance issues and the different school finance problems faced by the various states. From 1900 to 1965 states provided foundation aid to school districts. In the mid-1960s federal aid was added for special needs students. In the late 1960s…

This paper presents estimates of the added costs and potential savings associated with reorganizing public education from the current unintegrated system to a fully integrated P-16 system. (P-16 systems are attempts to create a coherent, flexible system of public education that stretches from preschool through the fourth year of college.) Models…

Describes how state and local school aid systems operate in Oklahoma, Delaware, and Alaska, how they have changed, how equity objectives vary among them, and how well the systems achieve objectives. Emphasizes special circumstances in each state and finds that equity must be studied in relation to other policy objectives. (JW)

Summarizes findings of a 1979 national survey of governors, legislators, and other state policymakers on the major school finance issues and areas of concern for the coming decade. Condensed from "School Finance Reform in the States: 1980," published by the Education Finance Center, Education Commission of the States. (Author/SJL)

Over the past five years, many states have modified their systems for providing aid to local school districts for current operating expenses, but few changes have taken place in states' support of local districts' capital outlay expenditures. However, the issues surrounding capital expenditures are somewhat different from those involved in current…

As states modify their school finance systems in pursuit of equity, play a larger role in setting the level of teacher salaries, and link school finance and improvement, state control of schools is growing. However, state support of schools will decrease as property taxes increase. (DCS)

Rural education is characterized by diversity, isolation, and small enrollments. Because of these characteristics, equity in rural school finance is very difficult to achieve. Lacking a workable taxonomy which can accommodate the variations in rural reality, there is neither the information to accurately assess the adequacy of educational programs…

Achieving a state education finance program that is fair to students, taxpayers, teachers, and school districts is complicated by varying student needs and different property tax rates and school expenses among districts. Attempts at equitable allocation of state aid funds and other educational resources should be guided by the principles of…

This report is intended to help state governors, legislators, and educators as they address the problems related to funding education. It is based on the idea that policy-makers can profit from the learning experiences of other states. The first and longest section of the booklet consists of a three-part overview. The first part of the overview…