First of a series; provides an examination of public education's current financial plight and offers seven immediate reforms. (Author)

Describes how a Kansas school district obtained voter approval of a $21.5 million bond issue nine months after a successful $13.5 million tax increase. Provides tips on organizing a referendum campaign and managing the money once approved. The keys are seeking high interest-bearing accounts, knowing past spending patterns, and campaigning for a…

A school renovation referendum's success hinged on a superintendent's visit to Joseph Graves, outspoken leader of an anti-tax group. Graves's book advises educators to marshall the facts and then talk with voters on committees, not at them. After exhaustive discussion, groups will make their own recommendations. (MLH)

Asserts that high wealth districts pay less and receive more while citizens of low wealth districts are strapped with a high tax rate that yields a low return of education, and that it is not the case that low wealth districts are mainly high income, white suburbs. (Author/IRT)

Examines some causes and basic principles of the current movement toward school finance equalization and points out some of the problems inherent in most equalization plans. (JG)

Describes the potential perils of corporate tax incentives for communities. Discusses practices that drain funding from public schools--tax abatements, tax-increment financing, and industrial bonds. Three sidebars are included. (LMI)

Per-pupil expenditures in the lowest spending states are half of those in the highest-spending states. The federal government could equalize interstate spending by subsidizing spending in poorer states. The plan must consider the dollar's varying purchasing power, higher expenditures for educating disadvantaged children, and disincentives for…