The 1,000-student Allegheny Valley district in Pennsylvania boasts generations of alumni and a community so involved with the schools that high school graduation becomes an open celebration in downtown Springdale Borough. Yet the district hasn't asked for a tax increase in three years, and it is pushing out a message to older residents about…

Examines several schemes that include income (as well as property wealth) to measure school district fiscal capacity. (Author/JM)

Findings of a study that examined the relationship between Pennsylvania teachers' salaries and local wealth are presented in this paper. Statistical analyses of 491 Pennsylvania school districts involved regression, t tests, and chi square. Findings indicate that two factors had a statistically significant impact on local teacher salaries: (1) the…

Analyzes the financial impact of Pennsylvania's Act 125, which distributed $132.5 million in additional state aid among the state's public school districts. (JG)

Three lengthy tables and four charts present information on the 1981-82 planned tax effort of each of Pennsylvania's 501 school districts and 67 counties. The tax effort, or "equalized mills," equals each district's budgeted taxes divided by its projected 1981 market value. The report gives a brief illustration of how the tax effort…

This paper presents findings of a study that examined the effect of a Pennsylvania subsidy formula on expenditures per pupil in the state's public school districts. The Equalized Subsidy for Basic Education (ESBE) was adopted in 1983 as a system to equalize resources among school districts. Out of 500 operating Pennsylvania school districts, 25…

This handbook is one in a series prepared for use at workshops designed to help teachers, administrators, and legislators understand and deal with the intricacies of school finance equalization plans in their states. Pennsylvania's education finance plan is discussed in this particular book. Chapter 1 discusses state support for education in…

Findings from a study that determined the degree of difference that exists in educational expenditures per pupil in Pennsylvania public school districts are presented. Specifically, the study compared districts with the highest and lowest expenditures and suburban with urban districts on the basis of expenditures, enrollment, revenue, wealth,…

This report reviews local tax reform and describes an approach to simulating the effects of proposed tax reform on local school districts in Pennsylvania. The microcomputer spreadsheet simulation led to the development of a model able to meet the feasibility criteria established for such a simulation model. The model was designed to input…

This publication will provide the general public and the educational community with a summary of interpretations, policies, and procedures established by the Pennsylvania Department of Education for the administration of the basic instructional subsidy. Pennsylvania schools are funded by a complicated state and local financial partnership spelled…

Explores the association of district enrollment, minority enrollment, wealth, poverty level, fiscal capacity, and tax effort with changes in the distribution of Pennsylvania's federal aid due to implementation of Chapter 2 of the Education Consolidation and Improvement Act. Examines the law's effect on paperwork, local control, and encouragement…

Findings of a study on higher education financing in the states are summarized with specific reference for the states covered by the 1977 Adams versus Richardson decision. The study, "Higher Education Financing in the Fifty States: Interstate Comparisons" (Marilyn McCoy, D. Kent Halstead), was jointly issued by the National Center for…

A description and analysis of two failed local finance reform efforts in Pennsylvania between 1987 and 1989--a blue ribbon tax reform commission and a state constitutional amendment--are presented in this report. Constraints imposed during the reform design stage and two political "tar pits"--household/business proportion of local taxes,…

This report examines the wealth of Pennsylvania school districts, the effort districts exert to support education, school expenditures, and the effects of district wealth on students. Important findings related to disparities in wealth and spending on education include: (1) the polarization of wealth distribution during the 1980s made over 90% of…

Pennsylvania state policymakers have taken steps to address issues of educational equity across school districts by amending the school-finance funding system. Pennsylvania relies on local property tax revenues as a major source of funding. This paper examines the effect of the property-tax-base formula on educational expenditures in the state.…