This paper is an indepth survey of American educational finance from its origins to the present and with projections for the future. It discusses the influence of and impact on school finance of some of the following: demographic patterns, changes in the American economy, Sputnik and civil rights events, federal intervention, the courts, local government, and local taxpayers. The paper delves into different approaches to reform, both conservative and revolutionary, and then discusses the status of educational finance in the state of New York. It concludes that the productive capacity of education, like that of the rest of the economy, may be suffering. No amount of funding, the paper says, can compensate for deficiencies in human productivity. An extensive bibliography follows. (Author/LD)