Examines the impact of declining enrollment on public elementary and secondary schools and discusses ways in which a state can deal with the declining enrollment problem through adjustments in its school finance system and through actions of the state education agency. (Author/JG)

The authors of this report argue that state boards of education must play an active part in assisting local districts with planning for enrollment decline. The authors review statistical data showing that enrollment decline in big city schools is generally worse than in other areas. State boards must be prepared to help districts that stand to…

The New York system of providing aid to contend with the higher costs associated with special education programs is the subject of this research study. The basic policy questions that it addresses are whether the current state aid system provides for special education needs for which the state should bear special responsibility and whether the…

This paper examines how states have responded to the planning, evaluation, and parent participation components of compensatory education programs to promote reform at the local level. Particular attention is given to the interaction between state political culture, legislative requirements, and state education agency leadership style, and their…

This paper examines several major State finance revisions and the procedures used to analyze their impact on school district per pupil expenditures, State aid, and local tax rates in New York, Massachusetts, and California. Policy alternatives include utilization of measures of educational need, municipal overburden factors in the general formula,…