Education ensures that children from all backgrounds have equal opportunities to succeed. Yet, the education provided for many K-12 students in the state of Texas may not be equal due to the allocation of school funds under House Bill 3 (H.B. 3). To date, the Revenue to Population (RTP) Index and other normalized statistical metrics have not been…

Scholarship tax credit programs provide a tax credit to businesses and individual taxpayers for donating funds to scholarship granting organizations. Nonprofit organizations manage and distribute donated funds in the form of private school tuition scholarships to eligible students. There are currently 24 scholarship tax credit programs in 19…

Superintendents and other school administrators live with tensions in political economy. The voting public believes school funding is fixed when the economy expands and new state programs are introduced. Administrators are publicly criticized when, strained for resources, their schools cannot perform within the "do more with less" paradigm. This…

On September 8, 2011, the President proposed the American Jobs Act to Congress, including investments of $25 billion to renovate and modernize at least 35,000 of America's public schools; $5 billion to upgrade infrastructure at America's community colleges; and $30 billion to keep hundreds of thousands of educators in the classroom. This report…

This report contains collective data on Hawaii's schools, showing trends over time and, where appropriate, comparisons with data from other states. It includes data from 246 public schools and 7 school districts for the 1996-97 school year. In 1996-97, enrollment growth, which had exceeded 1.5% for 5 years, declined sharply to 1%. Dropout rates…

This report describes the 1999 legislation affecting Oregon's K-12 school finance system. The first section summarizes state appropriations and local revenue estimates for 1999-01. The second section describes modifications to the allocation of the State School Fund among school districts and Education Service Districts. The last section reports…

A study of a random sample of 40 of Wisconsin's 432 public school districts was conducted to see how 7 factors influenced a district's use of the standardized statewide accounting system, known as the Wisconsin Elementary and Secondary School Accounting System (WESSAS). (MLF)

This report provides an overview of the importance of State Chapter 1 funds to schools in the most impoverished neighborhoods of Chicago (Illinois), schools that serve the city's most disadvantaged children. It documents the central role of programs in Chicago schools paid for with these funds, underscoring the importance of finding ways to…

The public school funding lawsuits that have been filed over the last two decades indicate that many people are not satisfied with the existing levels of school funding. After several years of trying to bring about changes through different avenues, a group called Tennessee Small School Systems filed suit in 1988 to have the system of financing…

While it is understood that state compensatory education funds will probably do little to close the gap in public school expenditure levels between wealthy and poor New Jersey districts, it is still important that the educational consumer and the interested observer understand how the system works. Compensatory education funds are the source of…

A survey of the 50 United States investigated laws and policy concerning programs for limited-English-proficient (LEP) students in elementary and secondary schools. This summary outlines state requirements imposed on schools regarding specific types of programs that must be offered to LEP students, the number of LEP students to be served, and the…

In the mission statement that introduces this annual report, the Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction defines the goals of revamping the state's "Essential Skills" program to reflect high academic standards and achievement, develop a fiscally responsible equitable school finance system, and reorganize the state department of…

Data previously reviewed are updated to show that, despite cuts imposed statewide because of the deficit reductions of 1991-92, the relations in educational finance among New York City, the rest of the state, and the metropolitan suburban districts remain essentially unchanged. State aid per pupil fell below the previous year's level in 1991-92 in…

Urban school superintendents from Pennsylvania and New Jersey met to consider issues related to the improvement of urban secondary schools. Although the public is pessimistic about all urban public schools, it regards secondary schools with particular pessimism. There are 70 urban high schools in New Jersey and 81 in Pennsylvania. Superintendents…

This Annual Report of the Secretary of the Interior for the Fiscal Year Ending June 30, 1938 includes the annual report from the Commissioner of Education. In the Commissioner's portion of this report, the following topics are covered: (1) General Educational Activities (An Over-View of the Public Schools; Of Higher Education; and Of Library…