This study investigates parameters affecting the likelihood of passing school facility construction bonds by local district election. Using statewide data from Michigan, this study analyzes school bond data for urban (n = 30), suburban (n = 164), small town (n = 70), and rural (n = 241) school districts that held capital improvement bond elections…

Ipswich, with about 2,200 students, is one of the many school districts in Massachusetts. Ipswich is governed by an open town meeting at which every registered voter may speak and vote. Budgets in Ipswich are highly detailed public documents in which every salary, classroom, and operating expenditure is identified. The budget book provides…

Debt limits, interest coverage ratios, one-off balanced budget requirements, pay-as-you-go rules, and tax and expenditure limits are among the most important fiscal rules for constraining intertemporal transfers. There is considerable evidence that the least costly and most effective of such rules are those that focus directly on the rate of…

The State Higher Education Finance (SHEF) report is produced annually by the State Higher Education Executive Officers (SHEEO) to broaden understanding of the context and consequences of multiple decisions made every year in each of these areas. No single report can provide definitive answers to such broad and fundamental questions of public…

Meeting the educational demands of the future will be expensive; however, in most states, public schools from kindergarten through the university level already experience budgetary challenges. Policymakers face the challenge of motivating taxpayers to provide the funds needed to meet mounting education needs. In this volume, Carroll and Erkut…

This policy brief reviews the recent experience of the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) with the development and approval of Proposition A. Proposition A (also known as the Quality Teacher and Education Act, or QTEA) included a parcel tax mainly dedicated to increasing teachers' salaries, along with a variety of measures introducing…

The State Higher Education Finance (SHEF) report is produced annually by the State Higher Education Executive Officers (SHEEO) to broaden understanding of the context and consequences of multiple decisions made every year in each of these areas. No single report can provide definitive answers to such broad and fundamental questions of public…

The State Higher Education Finance (SHEF) report is produced annually by the State Higher Education Executive Officers (SHEEO) to broaden understanding of the context and consequences of multiple decisions made every year in each of these areas. No single report can provide definitive answers to such broad and fundamental questions of public…

Interviewed policymakers and conducted election day exit poll to examine Fremont, California City Council measure asking residents whether tax should pay for child care. Concluded that measure lost because city overestimated shortage of child-care slots, supporters underestimated opposition, and city council and public opinion polls overestimated…

In this White Paper, the Business Roundtable recommends access to AMERICA 21, a 21st-century approach to lifelong learning for workers, as well as assistance for job dislocation. AMERICA 21 would channel funding from the myriad of existing initiatives into a modernized, streamlined system that leverages and builds on today's best private and…

The Grapevine project, which began in 1960 by M. M. Chambers, entails an annual survey of state higher education and government officials. The intent is to record annual state tax appropriations for the operating expenses of higher education, noting percent changes from year to year. The Grapevine data are indicators of state tax effort in support…

The list of Federal research grants leads one to wonder whether the inmates are running the asylum. (Editor)

Author describes and lists advantages of a plan whereby college students at state institutions pay back their tuition after graduation. (SP)

Examines the finding of the Southern Regional Education Board study in which state-local tax potential (ability) is estimated and compared with actual collections (effort). Also discusses the current and future adequacy and equity of the state-local tax revenue structure. (Author/IRT)

Article critically considered oversized government, shackling business regulations, and the excessive transfer of income from those who earned it to those who did not. (Author/RK)