By algebraically defining a school finance structure as a total budget system, partial derivatives can be used to find the kinds of rewards, incentives, and distributions the structure defines for individual districts and among districts. Equity concerns can also be answered. (Author/IRT)

Direct and indirect effects in decomposed zero-order correlations among variables in causal models are considered. Under certain circumstances, the components of the decompositions could be interpreted as direct, indirect, and spurious causal effects, plus a component called joint associations. The sum of the direct and indirect effects is the…

Measures relative differences in the supply price of teacher inputs (that is, the cost of teacher salaries) so as to provide state aid payments that will equalize real resources per pupil across school districts. Highlights a simultaneous equations model. (Author/JM)

This study analyzes the effectiveness of a "guaranteed tax base" (GTB) as a reform measure designed to reduce the traditional heavy reliance of school financing on local property tax revenues and to help equalize per pupil expenditures across districts. Such measures call for matching locally raised tax dollars with state aid and…

The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) commissioned the papers in this publication to address advances in measuring education inflation and adjusting for it, as well as to examine the emergence of a new focus on school spending, rather than school district spending, as well as new, private sources of funding for public education, and…