In 2008, the Indiana legislature passed and the governor signed into law House Enrolled Act No. 1001, now referred to as Public Law 146-2008, which capped Indiana school districts' ability to raise revenues from the local property tax without local voter approval. To phase in the impact of the law, the state provided school districts with levy…

Analyzes factors to consider when forging policy linkages among systemic reform, equity, and school finance reform. Discusses concepts of equity and adequacy and their relationship to school finance litigation. Proposes a policy-linkage model that illustrates connections among policy-making bodies, systemic reform initiatives, and various finance…

Examines school finance reform in Tennessee, based on a survey of 82 superintendents' views on 1991-92 budget cuts, tax reforms, the "Tennessee Small School Systems v. McWherter" lawsuit, and the effect of proposed Basic Education Program requirements on local districts' special education programs. State budget cuts affected all…

Identifies current problems and education issues confronting the Indiana legislature and predicts some issues the upcoming session will likely consider. A new "reward for effort" tax-base formula has resulted in urban districts receiving the lowest share of state revenue and rural districts the highest. Funding for textbooks, bilingual…

The education-production function has become the dominant paradigm for analyzing the effects of education resources on student outcomes. This paper presents findings of a study that investigated the education-production function and its relationship to educational policymaking. Fiscal data and student-achievement test scores for Indiana during the…

Three conference papers on school finance reform in Tennessee are presented in this document, with a focus on the disparities between rural and urban public school funding. The first paper examines the nature and size of contributions of various funding sources to the per-pupil revenue in local school districts, analyzes specific problems of the…

Although the federal Goals 2000 program provides supplemental funding for systemic education reform, states' fiscal abilities to finance systemic reform are stressed. This paper presents findings of a study that analyzed the extent of fiscal equity present in the southern states and examined the status of systemic reform, school-finance…