Discusses the educational finance problems facing West Virginia since Judge Arthur Recht ruled the state's school funding system unconstitutional because it created disparities and inequities. Unfortunately, Judge Jerry Cook's 1987 funding plan was overturned in November 1988, and the state legislature has failed to address property reappraisal…

One of the most elusive problems confronted in designing state aid programs for the public schools has been the determination of equitable measures of local fiscal capacity. (Author)

This chapter of "Principles of School Business Management" provides a basic understanding of the mechanics of the various taxes used to raise money for education, the extent to which these taxes are utilized, the way they interrelate, and the criteria that can be used when judging their relative advantages and disadvantages. The chapter…

This article describes the past 25 years of school finance policy reforms, illustrates tensions among various value proponents, and distills commonalities of reform efforts and their effects. Speculations on the probable points of conflict for the 1980s are provided. (Author/LC)

School finance reform litigation has been an important issue among educators and legislators over the last decade. A history of the reform movement is given in two phases from 1965 to 1979. A summary and analysis of reform legislation concludes the report. (JN)

This paper discusses a study that examined three questions: How has overall state spending on higher education changed from year to year in relation to states' ability to fund higher education? (2) Has the growth in state spending on higher education varied significantly from the growth in total state budgets in recent years? and (3) What have…

This report presents an analysis of the fiscal ability and effort of counties in Tennessee to support public education with alternative formulas for measuring relative ability to pay. Chapter 1 is a review of related literature that provides a background for tracing the development of the rationales used in fiscal capacity measures. It has two…

This study examines the organization and operations of local education foundations in Michigan and the fiscal programmatic impact of nonprofit education foundations on Michigan public schools. It also compares the socioeconomic characteristics of foundation and nonfoundation districts and tests the hypothesis that residents of local districts with…

Much of the recent discussion on basic education finance in Latin America points to a decline in education funding and to problems in the political economy of the education sector. This paper presents findings of a study that reviewed the existing framework for education finance and proposed a more organic linkage between education finance and…

Reviewing literature on educational finance and law, this paper analyzes the rationale for the recent school finance reform movement and recounts the movement's progress from 1965 to 1979. An overview of the problem discusses state equalization programs' ability to provide financial equity and the relationship of financial equity to equal…

Education researchers have moved beyond asking whether money matters to school performance. They are now investigating how money matters to student learning and achievement. There are three questions that policymakers and citizens must address: How much money are they willing to spend on the education of the young? How should it be fairly spent?…

The three primary sources of funding for public education in America are the federal government, the state government, and the community. This paper presents an overview of trends in funding K-12 public education; the stability of local-funding sources; the value of public education as a factor in cost; political influences on school funding;…

Among the financial problems facing urban schools are high expenditures per pupil required to provide educational services in urban schools enrolling a disproportionately high percentage of students with exceptional educational needs. Special programs are more costly than regular programs. City schools are frequently confronted with expenditures…

Residential areas with low property tax rates are more desirable than those with high tax rates, and school districts that have a high rate of expenditure per pupil are more attractive to parents than those with low rates of expenditure. For these reasons, the financial characteristics of a school district influence the value of housing in the…

This paper discusses the current role of the property tax as a revenue source for state and local governments. It is written for state and local policymakers and others interested in property taxes, including those who lack an indepth knowledge of tax systems. The purposes of the paper are to: (1) explain the current role of property taxes in…