Many recent critical reforms in state school finance systems have been catalyzed by the courthouse, not the statehouse. Advocates for equity-focused school finance reforms often consider legal action as the best path to significant policy changes. This brief discusses state-level lawsuits on adequacy and equity grounds and their outcomes.

Beginning in 2018, the Texas Commission on Public School Finance, comprised of 13 members inside and outside of the legislature, will begin the task of studying and making recommendations to improve the school finance system. This five-part series prepares readers to engage with lawmakers and the school finance commission by providing background…

Beginning in 2018, the Texas Commission on Public School Finance, comprised of 13 members inside and outside of the legislature, will begin the task of studying and making recommendations to improve the school finance system. This five-part series prepares readers to engage with lawmakers and the school finance commission by providing background…

The West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals ruled that Governor Rockefeller could not, without compelling factual justification, reduce previously appropriated state education funds. It held that public education had a constitutionally preferred status among state functions. A minority opinion argued that the ruling would impede administrative…

New York State provides aid to local schools in a way that is unfair to the neediest school districts with high educational needs or low property wealth. Proposed in this policy brief is a new formula for state aid based on a comprehensive educational cost index and a school performance index that reflects an average passing rate on the new…

Public spending for MR/DD services grew rapidly during FYs 2000-2002. This rapid growth was followed by reductions in spending for MR/DD services as the nation's economy declined during 2002-2004. However, convergent factors stimulating future expansion of funding and services for persons with MR/DD include rapidly expanding cohorts of aging…

Recent developments in school finance litigation are described in this document, which examines the legal bases for school finance challenges and the nature of the inequities that plaintiffs seek to prove. The first section summarizes the legal theories upon which the challenges have been based. Section 2 focuses upon plaintiffs' arguments in the…

In examining the state's role in private education, this article discusses court cases bearing on state services to private schools, state regulation of different types of private schools, collaborative efforts between public and private schools, and emerging state attitudes toward private education. (Author/WD)

South Texas colleges that serve large numbers of minority students have charged that state budget formulas favor flagship institutions serving fewer minority students. A recent state supreme court ruling found that, although Mexican border institutions have historically received less higher education money, increased support has begun. (MSE)

Emphasizing the diminished resources of the 1980's, this report offers an overview of the varied experiences of the states in dealing with school finance issues. Although basic inequities in educational services remain, the states' generally poor fiscal condition has resulted in less attention for equity issues. However, public school financing…

Because school systems throughout America depend on local property taxes for much of their revenue, districts with poor property valuations, especially rural districts, are facing fiscal crises. In response to a lawsuit filed in 1991, the Ohio Supreme Court twice decided that the state's heavy reliance on local property taxes for school funding…

The work presented in this bulletin is in continuation of the plan inaugurated three years ago, which has resulted in two similar publications covering the periods 1904-1906 and 1906-1908 (Bulletin, 1906, No. 3, and Bulletin, 1908, No. 7). In this bulletin an attempt has been made to classify and to analyze the changes wrought in the public school…