The last several years have seen renewed debate over the role that race plays in higher education--a debate over "affirmative action." The report first considers "affirmative action" in its original sense: the "mandatory" race-conscious measures that the federal courts have imposed on "de jure" segregated…

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…

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…

The lesson of Serrano will be the lesson of social policy in general: government can allocate resources but it cannot specify results. Serrano and its predecessors were aimed at promoting better education for needy districts and are likely to equalize spending with no systematic effect on educational outcomes. (Author/IRT)

This report reviews the effects of recent court cases that struck down existing methods of school finance and presents a detailed discussion of the case Demetrio P. Rodriquez et al vs San Antonio Independent School District et al. The report gives the factual background of the case, states the issue, presents the court's decision, and sets forth…

Presents the full text of the landmark case that found the method of financing public education in California in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. (JF)

Contains the full text of the Texas case finding that the current method of funding public education in that State violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. (JF)

Presents the full text of the Minnesota case that found the method of financing public education in that State to be in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. (JF)

Presents the full text of the New Jersey case that found the method of financing public education in that State to be in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. (JF)

This paper reviews the major federal and state court cases dealing with fiscal equalization in state school support programs and discusses in some depth the conflicting rulings of various state courts in this area. Particular emphasis is placed on the New Jersey Supreme Court's decision in Robinson v. Cahill and on the implications of the…