A shortcoming of the conventional ordinary least squares (OLS) approaches for estimating median voter models of education demand is the inability to more fully explain the spatial relationships between neighboring school districts. Consequently, two school districts that appear to be descriptively similar in terms of conventional measures of…

The Illinois Supreme Court has permitted the General Assembly to create a system of public school funding that is widely disparate and disadvantageous to students in school districts with low-property wealth. In this Article, I argue that the court has not adequately considered the nexus between the Uniformity of Taxation provision and the…

Summarizes the activities of the 97th Congress on taxes. Reviews 1981 enactments and 1982 proposals regarding tax cuts, tax increases, indexing of tax brackets, interest earnings, depreciation, and business incentives. Examines tax administration problems and flat-rate tax proposals and discusses the progressive income tax. (Author/RW)

Appears that school desegregation was integrally connected with the decline in financial support in South Carolina's majority Black district. (Author/IRT)

The annual survey by the Southern Regional Education Board compiled data for all 50 states on their utilization of taxable resources in fiscal 1979. It analyzed state and local governments' relative ability to collect taxes, their efforts to realize this taxing ability, and the recent tax trends. (Author/RW)

In states with a large number of small school districts, such as Colorado (exemplified by the the case study examined in this paper), reorganization would seemingly result in significant economies of scale and equalization of the tax bases that support the schools. (Author)

Examines models concerning the effects of district power equalization on measures of equality in the distribution of per pupil expenditures. Concludes that unresolved technical difficulties limit choice to two alternative models. (Author/IRT)

Citizen groups in West Virginia are going to court in an attempt to increase the traditionally low appraisal of corporate lands. (IRT)

Analysis of figures nationwide indicates that local school districts have reduced their reliance on property taxes while states have increased support for schools. However, states face serious fiscal problems, and the property tax system should be reviewed in light of the need for more local support for schools. (MJL)

Concludes that a state may make very uneven progress toward some general equity goal if that equity goal is operationalized in different ways. A preference for tax disparity, expenditure disparity reduction, or wealth neutrality gains may have to be expressed. (Author/IRT)

Results of study of impact of Pennsylvania Prevailing Wage Act on 25 school-construction project costs from 1992-97 and effect thereof on local school districts' taxes. All districts had higher construction costs and property taxes. Projects increased construction costs for the Commonwealth and recommends revisions in prevailing wage-rate law.…

Outlines how the state of North Dakota is developing a system for incorporating the revenue from the coal and petroleum industries into the tax base for local school support as part of an equalization plan for supporting basic services during a depressed economic period. (MD)

Discusses the merit of using the Representative Tax System to measure state fiscal capacity instead of the traditional measure of per capita income. The conclusion is that the Representative Tax System can play a major role in determining the allocation of federal grants. (MJL)

Two shortcomings in the implementation of guaranteed tax base or equalization formulas--limitations on state equalization aid and inaccurate portrayal of fiscal capacity--can maintain or increase financial disparities among school districts. Data on Michigan districts illustrate how inaccurate fiscal measurement expanded existing disparities…

Summarizes a New York State Board of Regents study group's findings in four sections: an overview and critique of the real property tax; proposals for reforming this tax; proposals for shifting away from real property; and proposals for freeing resources by improving management of educational systems. Progress could be made on all fronts…