In May 1991, the Florida Legislature directed the State Board of Community Colleges to develop a method to equalize the base funding of community colleges, including an appropriate cost differential equation. As a result, an allocation process of legislative appropriations was developed which supported the relative priorities of each college from…

Money to operate Washington's public schools comes from state, local, and federal sources. For the 1995-96 school year, total combined revenue exceeded $5 billion. The largest share of Washington's operating budget is devoted to K-12 education. This paper portrays critical features of Washington's school finance system. It first examines current…

Washington State assumes full responsibility for funding a basic education program for K-12 public schools. Full funding of basic education includes special education programs, transitional bilingual programs, remediation-assistance programs, and certain pupil transportation costs. This paper describes conditions in Washington State school finance…

This document provides background information on educational finance in North Dakota. It examines the use of nonproperty factors in financing education, the quality of education, legal action in the state regarding education finance issues, and the effects of any 1993 North Dakota legislation on education finance. The paper first describes changes…

In 1994, Michigan voters amended the state constitution to reduce schools' reliance on local property taxes for financial support. School districts were also divided into three funding tiers that were determined by their 1993-94 state and local revenues. This paper presents findings of a study that examined the impact of Michigan's finance reform…

This report describes the program for financing public schools in Florida. The intent is to supply general information for those having a casual interest in state funding of schools and more detailed descriptions for the school administrator or the student of school finance. The first section of the report describes key features of the Florida…

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…

This paper presents the revised 1975-76 allocation of funds for instructional services and capital note items. The revisions were necessary because of the impact of the 1975-77 agreement between the city board of education and the American Federation of Teachers local on obligatory teacher staffing patterns (such as minimum pupil-teacher ratios…

The course of school finance reform in Washington since the 1977 "Seattle School District v. State" decision is traced in this document. While the majority of nationwide court decisions have centered on the inequitable distribution of financial resources among school districts within 10 states, the Washington decision focused on the…

In 1997, Vermont passed Act 60, which reformed its education finance system to achieve greater equality of spending. The reform encouraged wealthy towns to reduce spending; it was politically unpopular and was replaced, in 2004, by Act 68. We analyze the spending incentives created by the two acts and estimate the effects the change will have on…

New Mexico has a long history of funding public education through state revenues distributed by formula funding. K-12 education in New Mexico relies on central state funds rather than on local property taxes. This paper presents a history and overview of the current funding formulas for K-12 and higher education, as well as other funding sources…

This document is the second in a series of reports that measures progress to-date in making New Jersey's school finance system fairer to students and taxpayers alike. It examines change in the distribution of revenues and expenditures between 1975-76 and 1978-79, the equity of these distributions, how budget caps influenced these shifts, and the…

This study is divided into three chapters. In the first chapter the historical background essential for an understanding of the Illinois situation is presented and the various provisions of the new allocation system are described. In Chapter 2 a body of scholarly and professional literature concerning criteria for evaluation of state education…

The system for financing education in Illinois fails to deliver sufficient resources to the school districts that need them most. Although no individual or administrative unit acts to deprive particular groups, the system as a whole does. Using Census figures, state and local tax records and information from the Illinois Board of Education, this…

This comparative analysis updates the effects on school finance of the Delaware Legislature's passage of a new equalization law in 1984. The formula for allocation of equalization funds was modified by increasing the level of state support and by requiring greater local tax effort for districts to qualify for the funds. Analysis focuses on four…