This report discusses the 2023-24 Accomplishments and 2024-2025 Priorities and Ongoing Responsibilities for the departments of the New York State Education Department: (1) Office of Counsel; (2) Government Relations; (3) Finance; (4) Public Affairs; (5) P12 Instructional Support; (6) P12 Operational Support; (7) Higher Education; (8) Adult Career…

Students suffer extreme hardship when their postsecondary education is interrupted or significantly devalued by school closure or misconduct. Private postsecondary education in particular can cost tens of thousands of dollars in tuition, fees, equipment, and required materials. These considerable expenses constitute only part of the economic harm…

Scholarship programs authored by state legislatures may conflict with a state's constitution. In the case of "Locke v. Davey" 540 U.S. 807 (2003), Joshua Davey challenged the State of Washington's withdrawal of his Promise Scholarship claiming violation of his First Amendment rights under the United States Constitution. This…

Describes the issues in an Illinois court case brought by school districts who claim the State is holding back appropriated school funds from one fiscal year to the next. (Author/DN)

This article discusses the tricks of the trade that legislatures in formerly de jure segregated states might use to maintain racial funding disparities in existence before Brown and whether such ploys might be vulnerable to legal challenges. The first section provides an overview of modern school finance formulas and explains how legislatures in…

The Pennsylvania Master Plan for Higher Education projected that, to meet the needs of the state in higher education, private colleges and universities, which presently enroll 55% of the state's students, will have to increase their enrollment by 39.5%. However, no provisions were made in the Plan to help these institutions do so. This report…

Controversy surrounds Michigan's first charter "school"--a distance-learning network of home schoolers that may come online this fall with some 1,200 students and about $6.6 million in state aid. The school could make a $4 million profit by its third year of operation. An alternative curriculum that promotes creationism has the Michigan…

The rationales for various state-finance distribution formulas, from 1896 to the present, are explained along with the rationales of the lawsuits questioning their validity. Chapter 1 describes attempts at financial equity from 1896 to the 1950s. Chapter 2 examines the current status of financing public education, emphasizing a state's obligation…

The Supreme Court ruled that state statutes providing a former patient with access to medical records applies only to institutions receiving state legislative appropriations. The narrow focus of the case will allow challenges to the scope and validity of this ruling. (SF)

In 2003, education program officials at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation asked attorneys at the University of Washington's Center on Reinventing Public Education to explore legal issues affecting the establishment and operation of small high schools in Washington State. Although this guide will be of interest to small school advocates…

When the rhetoric of tax credits and vouchers to aid nonpublic schools is laid open, two principal theories in their support are revealed. One theory is grounded on "need" and the other is anchored in "competition." The first stimulates charitable feelings and "fair play" instincts while the second appeals to the economic traditions in which…

The success or failure of an institution on a Finance or State Chancellor's Office audit can depend upon how well the college has maintained an audit trail, recording the total number of hours and students claimed, budget expenditures, average daily attendance generation, disability designations, and Individual Educational Plans. Adequate audit…

The study was made of state and local legal and non-legal problems involved with reaching non-public and out-of-school youth with an approved driver education course; and to develop recommendations and guidelines by which the states could plan to meet the standard requirement. Questionnaires were sent to 50 state supervisors. Data were divided…

The United States Supreme Court decided two cases in the area of school finance in 1986. It addressed student financial assistance under a vocational rehabilitation program for tuition at a sectarian postsecondary institution in Washington; it also decided a case challenging a state finance program. Cases were heard by other courts in an attempt…

One Supreme Court decision, seven federal appellate decisions, and two district court decisions were published in the area of school finance in 1990. The Supreme Court reviewed a case concerning allegations of school district segregation, along with an ensuing tax assessment issue. Federal appellate courts handed down decisions involving alleged…