Examines all 50 states' methods of funding public higher education, handling changing enrollments, and employing formulas to set budgets for higher education administration, instruction, libraries, student services, public safety, and facilities. Presents data on computational methods, base factors, cost categories, and numbers of formulas used…

Over the past 30 years, federal and state courts have addressed numerous education finance equity issues, particularly the inadequacies of state aid funding formulas. This article discusses government responsibility, judicial intervention cases, pending litigation in various states, and future directions for educational finance litigation and…

In this article, the author reports the ripple effects of the energy squeeze due to Hurricane Katrina and other factors that sent energy costs skyrocketing. Energy costs are a good part of why budget growth, which has been steady over the past five years, has been slowing down. The projected change from FY2005 to FY2006 is only 3.3%, compared to…

Available in English or French, this reference guide summarizes the funding of Manitoba public schools for the 2000-2001 school year. School funding for operating and capital expenses is administered by the provincial government. Following a list of 2000-2001 revisions to the Schools Finance Program, the first section describes base support. The…

The passage of Senate Bill 36, Ch. 83, SLA 1998, carried with it certain reporting requirements for the Department of Education & Early Development to the 22nd legislature by January 15, 2001. There are three required reports. "Tab 1: District Cost Factors": Legislation requires the department to monitor district cost factors and…

The dependency of public institutions of higher education on state tax dollars is a major source of financial instability as other state agencies demand more tax dollars for other purposes. This paper presents a new formula for higher education funding and discusses the rationale and implications of implementing the new solution, which will allow…

With the repeal of the statewide ad valorem tax in 1981, many state colleges and universities no longer had resources for construction, improvements, major repair and renovation, and the acquisition of capital equipment. The Legislature recognized the need to provide permanent capital funding for those colleges and universities not participating…

The capacity of funding formulas to distribute adequate state funds to public colleges and universities equitably has been often debated, prompted by demands for economy, wise resource usage, and accountability. Between 1984 and 1988, the number of states using funding formulas decreased from 34 to 32. Change is inevitable. Includes 17 footnotes.…

American society has long realized the importance of education as a tool for social and economic mobility and therefore has supported free public education with taxpayer dollars. Understanding that every child is entitled to an education appropriate to his or her needs, to varying extents state legislatures have recognized the importance of…

This brief provides a summary and analysis of a survey taken in the fall of 2005. The survey was conducted with a distribution of questionnaires to all of the district superintendents in the state of Arizona. Responses were received from 116 individuals out of a population of 227. These superintendents represented all three types of school…

The 1995 South Dakota State Legislature enacted a new state aid to education formula. This memorandum is designed to provide background information on the formula. The repeal of the formula in existence at the time and replacement with a different formula was the product of several factors. Some of those factors were: (1) the inclusion of a new…

Formula funding in Illinois reflects decisions on value choices which can be grouped in the categories of enrollment linkage, mission and diversity recognition, equity and fair share, and quality and program improvement. The enrollment linkage of the Illinois formula ties credit hour grants and categorical programs directly to full-time equivalent…

The current Illinois school finance formula fails to bring very wealthy districts within acceptable equalization bounds. Manipulating tax rates of wealthy and other districts is unacceptable or financially unfeasible. This paper proposes a two-stage process requiring state equalization at the county level, followed by equalization within each…

For the past year, the issue of public education funding has been particularly contentious in California. A pitched political battle between education advocates and the administration of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger began with a December 2004 preview of the governor's budget proposal for 2005?06. The fight continued through a spring filled with…

Summarizes Kentucky's progress toward educational equity, concentrating on (1) the Kentucky Supreme Court's 1989 decision declaring the state's educational finance system unconstitutional and (2) a description and preliminary evaluation of the state's new four-part funding formula featuring pupil weighted averages for expenditure by wealth…