Rural areas are hard-pressed to finance education, because incomes are lower and fiscal resources are less available. Problems in crop farming, energy mining, and textile manufacturing counties are taking their toll on rural Americans. Because local governments cannot maintain existing services, the time is right to reformulate federal rural…

Examines detailed school spending and achievement data for over 2,800 Texas elementary schools for 1992-93. A school's student poverty rate is the most important factor influencing student performance. Results emphasize the importance of spending for exemplary teaching, basic supplies, and maintenance. Certain expenditures correlate with lower…

Analyzes impact of court-mandated school-finance reform in New Jersey. Finds, for example, that while the state's poorest urban districts have benefited from the reform efforts, systematic inequities inherent in the state's system of school funding have not been addressed. (Contains 21 references.) (PKP)

Provides a demographic and fiscal profile of New Jersey's schools and analyzes equity implications of minimum teacher salary legislation for poor school districts. Direct salary impacts should not destabilize local finances or create undue fiscal distress. Other states considering similar legislation should first examine their economic…

Prospects for financing educational reform in West Virginia are grim. Added to the state's high unemployment rate are the following problems: declining sales, income, and property tax revenues and erosion of federal support due to Gramm-Rudman-Hollings. Residents have set other priorities for public funding. Includes five references. (MLH)