In the 1989 "Edgewood vs. Kirby" decision, the Supreme Court of Texas ordered the Legislature to correct the inequality in funding between the state's richest and poorest school districts. In response to the court's order, the Legislature recently enacted Senate Bill 1 (SB 1) intended to provide Texas' school districts with equal access…

State-level data on an array of topics relevant to public education are provided in this document. Rank-ordered statistics for the 50 states and the District of Columbia cover the following: (1) population (total resident population by age group--5-17, 18 and over, 65 and over; live births, etc.); (2) enrollment and attendance (public, elementary…

Potential revenue prospects for the public schools in the Midwest basically depend on the future outlook for the midwestern economy as a whole. Accordingly, a comprehensive analysis is undertaken of the midwestern economy and tax base, and then of trends in educational spending. Topics include: (1) economic growth and taxation systems; (2)…

This report attempts to define the nature and dimensions of the "college affordability crisis." It covers trends in college costs, student ability to pay, and some of the ways in which affordability problems are being addressed. The report finds that while annual growth in college costs has slowed, cost continues to exceed growth in…

This report identifies promising and innovative responses to employment-related education reform. Chapter 1 is an overview of the challenge of building a world-class work force. Chapters 2-10 present 50 examples of policy initiatives in digest form, organized into nine themes; each digest provides the name of a contact. Chapter 2 discusses new…

A growing interest in the use of nonproperty sources to replace an overburdened property tax, actually or psychologically, has been evident in recent years, particularly as school district levies have been running into stiff voter opposition. However, because school districts have relied on the property tax for their major and often sole source of…

This report presents the key trend indicators of public higher education systems for the fiscal year 1994-95, and national trend data for the years 1978-95, for all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Two brief introductory sections summarize the more exceptional findings, and define the purpose and design of the study and the indicators used.…