A PROPOSAL TO IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF FLORIDA EDUCATION BY AWARDING INCENTIVE GRANTS TO PUBLIC SCHOOLS WAS DESCRIBED. THE PRESENT FOUNDATION PROGRAM FOR STATE SUPPORT OF PUBLIC EDUCATION HAS BEEN FOUND TO PROVIDE ONLY MINIMUM QUALITY EDUCATION, PARTLY CAUSED BY THE LACK OF LOCAL TAX EFFORT IN SUPPORTING THE FOUNDATION PROGRAM. IN THE FUTURE, THE…

Examined disequalizing effects of two nonvoted millage rates (discretionary millage and the school capital improvement millage) when combined with revenues obtained through the equalized foundation portion of the Florida Education Finance Program. Although discretionary levies add a slightly disequalizing component to the foundation program…

Florida's new school finance formula is characterized by a three mills power equalization scheme on top of a Strayer-Haig foundation plan. Finance legislation is predicated on the intent to equalize educational opportunity while increasing the authority and responsibility of districts for deciding matters of instructional organization and method.…

On June 26, 1973, the system for financing elementary and secondary education in Florida was radically altered when the Florida legislature passed the Florida Education Finance Program Act of 1973. Significant features of this act include (1) substantially increased fiscal equalization; (2) a systematic plan and substantial State commitment to…

Part of a three-volume report on the effects of school finance reform, this volume summarizes principal findings of the studies presented in the other volumes. The report summarizes school finance reforms enacted between 1972 and 1974 in California, Florida, Kansas, Michigan, and New Mexico. It recounts what happened to school taxing and spending…

This manual provides an introduction to the system of financing elementary and secondary education in Florida. School finance reform in Florida, the paper notes, has been considered a success primarily due to a grouping of conditions that created an atmosphere conducive to reform. Chapter 1 explains how the state's education finance plan operates…

Part of a three-volume report on the effects of school finance reform, this volume examines reform efforts in California, Florida, Kansas, Michigan, and New Mexico. Data on districts' tax rates, wealth, and number of pupils were obtained from state sources. Data on household income, percent urban, percent white, and percent poverty were obtained…

This paper discusses some of the advantages and disadvantages of three alternative philosophical and practical approaches for the equitable distribution of state aid to local school districts. These three approaches include the "equity through uniformity" approach, implemented through a Full State Assumption school finance model; the…

THE SCHOOL SYSTEM IN WEWAHITCHKA, FLORIDA, WITH A LARGE NUMBER OF DISADVANTAGED STUDENTS TYPIFIED MANY OF THE PROBLEMS OF STRUGGLING RURAL AMERICAN SCHOOLS. IT WAS BESET WITH EVEN MORE CLASSROOM PROBLEMS WHEN SCHOOL AND TOWN LEADERS VOLUNTARILY DECIDED TO DESEGREGATE ALL GRADES IN AN EFFORT TO AVOID THE FINANCIAL NEED TO CONSOLIDATE WITH A…

This audit report presents results of a review of the Florida Eminent Scholar and Major Gift Challenge Grant Programs. In four chapters the report: (1) reviews the purpose, scope, and background of the programs; (2) looks at program successes, fees, and expenditures, noting that the programs have raised $219 million in private donations to support…