This article draws on recent insight regarding the distribution and mobility of highly effective teachers, student access to top-performing educators, and research on the effectiveness of strategic compensation reforms to argue that the single-salary pay schedule has resulted in disturbing inequities for students and inefficiencies in resource…

This paper intends to describe the recent experience of a small, rural, two-year technical college. After four decades of success, the college had found itself in a difficult situation with a substantial loss in enrollment and diminished state and local support, coupled with low campus employee morale. In response, the college team closed ranks…

Reforming the way a state distributes its funding to local school districts is a challenging task. Too often, state leaders embrace major school funding reform only when they are directed by court decisions. In this seemingly contentious policy domain, the Rhode Island General Assembly defied the odds--working in a recessionary climate and in the…

This article presents the state education finance and governance profile of South Carolina. In the state of South Carolina, the population in 1990 was estimated at 3,486,310, and as of July 2008 the population was estimated at 4,479,800. In terms of education funding, the K-12 education General Fund appropriation is $2,441,044,733 for Fiscal Year…

Like many other states, Missouri has gone through several rounds of school finance litigation. However, the trial just concluded was unusual in two respects. First, three taxpayers were allowed to intervene for the defense and, in the process, raise important questions concerning the efficiency of school spending and broader questions of school…

This article asserts that although there has been a consistently increasing demand on both the national and state levels for alignment of resources (inputs) to improved student outcomes (outputs), the lack of a systematic and well-defined policy portfolio has limited reform effectiveness. This article specifically examines the overreliance on…

In response to court rulings, states such as California and Washington have sought to promote greater equality in per pupil spending by shifting from local financing of public education to state financing. In this article, we investigate how constraints on local discretion resulting from this shift to state financing influence the level and growth…

In time of financial stress in colleges, concentration of effort and planning will focus on achieving the highest return on existing assets through investment of talent, time, energy, and creativity by students, faculty, staff, administration, and supporters. (JD)

School finance reform litigation has been an important issue among educators and legislators over the last decade. A history of the reform movement is given in two phases from 1965 to 1979. A summary and analysis of reform legislation concludes the report. (JN)