One of the most critical issues affecting higher education access today is the rising cost of going to college. Symptoms of the trend include dramatic increases in tuition and fees, reduced state higher education budgets, declines in the purchasing power of student grant aid, increasing student debt burdens and heightened demand for institutional…

This paper partially fulfills the charge set out by New Business Item (NBI) 18, passed at the 2004 NEA Representative Assembly requiring that NEA conduct an analysis of "weighted student formula" (also known as "student-based budgeting") and how it impacts educational programs in large urban districts. The funding system known as "weighted student…

This report details results of the 1999 Nebraska Rural Poll, which asked rural Nebraska residents for their opinions on recent school finance legislation and on proposed consolidation of county offices and services. Survey responses were received from 3,036 residents of Nebraska's 87 nonmetropolitan counties. Recent school finance legislation…

In Ontario, nearly half of the elementary schools have fewer than 300 students, and one quarter of the high schools have fewer than 600 students. However, the province's funding formula was designed for larger schools. Small schools in Ontario are operating without adequate staff and resources and are at risk of being closed. Since 1999, 192…

The United States Department of Education's (Department or ED) Public Charter Schools Program (PCSP) provides support for the planning, program design, and initial implementation of charter schools; the evaluation of the effects of charter schools; and the dissemination of information about charter schools and successful practices in charter…

Explores equity issues related to the funding of urban schools. Data suggest that poverty level is more closely tied to spending differences than minority status. Federal and state funding formulas have brought per-student spending in most schools close to the national average, although high-income areas continue to enjoy higher per-pupil…

The education problems in New York City (and a number of other jurisdictions that face court financing challenges) are real and important. Many people would indeed be willing to put more money into New York City schools (or any poorly performing school for that matter) if they had any reason to believe that students' achievement would improve…

Since its inception in 1965, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, now known as No Child Left Behind (NCLB), has directed billions of federal dollars toward low-income students. Title I, Part A of NCLB is designed to equalize educational opportunities and resources for disadvantaged children. This analysis examines whether the current…

This document describes a procedural alternative to current practice predicated on a critical analysis of the literature concerning the funding of public institutions of higher education. The document is partitioned into five sections. The first section describes the development of the formula concept. The next section describes how funding…

This document presents funding proposals from the Alabama Commission on Higher Education for the 1994-95 Fiscal Year. Individual sections present the following: (1) executive summary of the Unified Budget Recommendations; (2) the unified budget recommendation with program detail on 1992-93 and 1993-94 appropriations and 1994-95 requests, regional…

The New Jersey State government could reduce pupil transportation aid payments to local school districts by between $35 million and $50 million by eliminating support for questionable expenditures and by using the funding formula adopted in the Quality Education Act of 1990. This report describes how these dollar savings can be achieved. The major…

Budgeting and budget planning in higher education are considered, and the long-standing debate concerning whether budgeting is largely a technical or a political exercise is reviewed in this monograph. The roles of various participants in the budgeting process and the form of their participation, with emphasis on centralization of authority in the…

This report summarizes the findings and recommendations of the Iowa Community College Funding Formula Task Force. The first section contains a list of guiding principles of state aid to the community colleges. These include: providing Iowa citizens with access to educational opportunities and services; having a balance of state aid, local property…

The South Australian State Department of Education, Training and Employment allocates funding to schools in much the way that the literature suggests is a generic basis for funding schools. This includes per school base funding, per student funding for all students, additional per student allocations based on year levels, and additional per…

The Oregon Quality Education Model (QEM) was developed by the state to identify the fundamental requirements and costs for a quality education that meets Oregon's academic standards. It will determine the funding of Oregon schools. Among the assumptions upon which the QEM is built were that elementary school enrollment is 340 students, middle…