Since the separate-but-equal era, students attending schools with high concentrations of Black students have attempted to improve the quality of their educations through school finance litigation. Because of the negative effects of racial isolation, Black students might consider mounting school finance litigation to force states to explicitly…

Raising academic standards and eliminating achievement gaps between advantaged and disadvantaged students are America's prime national educational goals. Current federal and state policies, however, largely ignore the fact that the childhood poverty rate in the United States is 21%, the highest in the industrialized world, and that poverty…

The California Supreme Court rule on June 30th that local bond issues requiring two-thirds voter approval for passage violated the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. (Westbrook v. Mihaly). (MF)

Presents a series of viewpoints on current educational issues, in particular on educational finance. Equitable school financing is seen as having an uncertain future in light of the Rodriguez decision and the failure of Oregon's school finance plan. The cutback of federal impact aid has created problems for school districts in the education of…

Comments on the upcoming Supreme Court decision in the Rodriquez case. (JF)

Discusses the Serrano vs Priest decision that ruled against the use of property taxes for support of schools in California. (JF)

Discusses recent court cases involving the issues of school finance and equal educational opportunity, emphasizing the emerging judicial requirement of "minimal educational adequacy" for all students. (JG)

A constitutional finance system should provide each student with a minimum adequate education and should assure that extras not depend on where a student lives. Available from Ohio State Law Journal, 1659 North High St., Columbus, OH 43210. (Author/IRT)

The Supreme Court of Tennessee, in "Tennessee Small School Systems, Inc. v. McWherter," declared that Tennessee's method of financing its public schools violated the state constitution. The court's mode of analysis relies on the state equal protection clause rather than the state education clause. Examines implications for school finance…

This paper discusses the implications for State educational finance of the recent Serrano vs Priest decision and tries to clarify the exact meaning of the Serrano case. It notes that the use of property taxes for financing schools is not barred by the decision. Rather, the case expresses the principle of neutrality -- the level of spending for a…