The school finance equity efforts that began in Illinois in the early 1970s collapsed during the early 1980s, partially as a result of poor economic conditions affecting the entire state budget. This monograph opens with a review of the school finance reform events that have unfolded in Illinois since 1973, when major reforms were first enacted…

This report briefly summarizes the background, the criteria and procedures for evaluation, the findings, and the recommendations of the Tennessee School Finance Equity Study that, during the two year period ending in November, 1979, examined Tennessee's present program for financing the public schools, kindergarten through grade 12. The purpose of…

Systematically analyzes the relationships between the goals and the tools of educational finance plans. Argues that an improved understanding of policies that affect school finance equity can be obtained by viewing equity in terms of a conceptual framework and by describing school finance plans in terms of their structural elements. (Author/IRT)

Finance reform in education is discussed with emphasis on state, local, and federal funding and court litigation. The focus is on equal education for poor communities. (DS)

The increasing tendency in North Carolina to support school expenditures from local revenues may be leading to greater disparities in financing from one school district to another. (Author/IRT)

The system used in Illinois for financing public education underwent major reform in 1973. At that time four alternative formulas for determining equalization aid levels were established. In 1980 three of these formulas were eliminated and only a modified version of the Resource Equalizer formula remains in use. This report provides an overview of…

This description of the Tennessee equalization plan consists of (1) a description of Tennessee's current public school finance program; (2) recommendations for change in the existing program; (3) a description of the conformance of the recommended changes to the equity guidelines developed by the United States Commissioner of Education pursuant to…

This discussion begins with the five major political values that were reflected in the 1973 reform of the Illinois school aid system. The lawmakers wanted to spend state dollars for education in a way that would improve student and taxpayer equity, maintain local control of school districts, aid poverty-impacted districts, not discriminate against…

Analyzes the South Dakota system of financing education in light of major cases considering the constitutionality of state finance systems and of the approaches courts have used in determining constitutionality. Examines the particular finance problems that face the school systems of South Dakota. Available from University of South Dakota School…

This paper examines the complex web of state basic and categorical aid programs in New York, with particular attention to the components of basic aid. State aid to elementary-secondary education in New York is distributed through a four-point basic-aid program and over 30 categorical programs. The first part of the paper describes the components…

The change in the equality of per-pupil expenditures of 22 metropolitan Milwaukee school districts before and after the implementation of the Wisconsin new power equalization formula for school finance is investigated in this study. The equality of per-pupil expenditures for line items that compose the current operating expenses of a school…

In the Serrano decisions, the courts found California's method of financing schools to be unconstitutional and gave the state until September 1, 1980 to reduce wealth-based expenditure differences to substantially less than $100 per pupil. The courts found three features of the state's system to be particularly onerous--the failure of the state to…

This study is an attempt to obtain a national assessment that could help inform federal policy. The study looks at all the states in order to obtain an assessment on a consistent basis, is based solely on results of reform--disparities in the distribution of education funds, and examines not only the state's status in a recent time period but also…

The goal of the doctoral dissertation summarized here was to find an equitable school finance plan that applied the same tax rate in all districts and resulted in the smallest variance in the expenditure per weighted pupil unit (WPU) between districts in Arizona for the 1971-72 school year. Six finance plans were developed for analysis and were…

This booklet examines the problems involved in financing public education in the United States, discusses the inequities of present finance systems, describes possible changes, and suggests alternatives for constructive solutions. The author first describes present school finance systems, with special emphasis on the southern states. She then…