In California, a half century after the landmark "Serrano v. Priest" decision overturning the state's public school finance system because of the inequality between the state's school districts, a significant amount of wealth-based inequality in per-pupil expenditures continues to exist. One of the sources of this inequality is the…

California voters rejected Proposition 174, the "Parental Choice in Education" initiative, by a margin of seven to three. Estimated cost of the campaign, a week before the election, was $20.l million. Despite the defeat, Americans for School Choice, a national organization, has announced plans to launch voucher proposals in 25 states by…

The participants in these hearings that took place prior to the California Supreme Court issuing its decision in the Serrano vs Priest case discuss that case and also the use of education vouchers as one means of education finance reform. Legislators, education finance experts, and interested organizations and citizens express their views on…

This is a cost effectiveness study accompanied by recommendations on legal, fiscal, and procedural steps to be taken should the constitutional amendment removing restriction of state assistance to independent colleges be approved by the legislature. Examination is made of the educational marketplace, arrangements of other states in similar…

This publication presents 13 papers selected from a conference on school choice, which was designed to shed light on what is meant by school choice, what proposals are being advanced to achieve choice, and how various sections of the community view the issue. Following a preface and a list of participants in the conference, an essay by Christopher…

The Parental Choice in Education Initiative was defeated by California voters in a statewide special election in November 1993. The stated purpose of the initiative was to enable parents to choose their children's schools. This document summarizes the provisions of the initiative, analyzes its policy and fiscal impact, and reviews supporting and…

This review of research and other literature on educational vouchers provides an overview and history of the voucher concept and voucher programs. The author first looks at several existing versions of the voucher idea, such as the G.I. Bill and Denmark's free schools. California's Alum Rock voucher experiment is evaluated, with suggestions about…

Key factors influencing the decision to attend private school are identified in this paper. It looks at the factors accounting for varying rates of private school attendance and estimates the responsiveness of such attendance to government support. It studies the variation in private school attendance rates at three levels: across states, across…

This document's purpose is to assist local educational agencies in providing compensatory education services to students in private schools and to provide clarification about compensatory education program responsibilities as mandated by the Education Consolidation and Improvement Act (ECIA) of 1981. The first of the document's two major parts…

School choice, as one avenue toward educational reform, must be placed in context, according to this brief policy analysis. Prepared mainly for policymakers in California and stressing implications for public education in California, the report briefly discusses five samples of school choice: (1) magnet schools; (2) charter schools; (3) open…

Four handbooks developed by the Consolidated Programs Department of the Sacramento City Unified School District (California) provide a means by which the multitude of federal, state, and district rules and regulations pertaining to compensatory education can be understood. The "Consolidated Programs Office Management Procedures" handbook…