The standard benefit incidence algebra generally produces biased estimates of the distribution of public spending on education when students from poor and rich families are enrolled in schools that receive different levels of public spending per student. Except in very rare instances, removing these biases entails combining several sources of…

Maryland's school finance system experienced a restructuring in 2002 with the passage of SB 856, the "Bridge to Excellence Act." The "Bridge" Act set the funding amount for "base" students, brought state funding for kindergarten students on par with students in grades 1-12, and collapsed about 50 school funding…

Throughout the history of publicly-funded voucher programs--enacted and proposed--the impact on taxpayers has been a recurring issue. As the nation's longest-running program, the Milwaukee Parent Choice Program (MPCP) provides an important case study. The fiscal impact of Milwaukee's program has evolved in very significant ways over its 18-year…

Though the number of districts with student-based funding-type (SBF) policies has grown, the literature on the implementation and possible impacts of these policies is limited. To address this, this report describes the implementation of SBF policies in two California school districts--San Francisco Unified School District and Oakland Unified…

State revenue currently flows to California school districts through so many channels that it is difficult to determine why some districts receive more funding than others. Each revenue program also has its own restrictions on the use of funds, reducing the latitude of school districts to use state funds most effectively. An alternative,…

The political landscape in school finance has undergone significant changes in the United States in recent years. It was only a generation ago that the state government assumed the primary funding responsibility in public schools, public agencies at the state and local level "monopolized" service delivery, and many reform initiatives did…

Direct provision of public services can alter the balance of resources across income groups. We focus on the issues arising when taking account of the impact of publicly provided education services across the income distribution. We combine OECD information on spending per student in particular levels of the education system with micro data from…

Cyber schools, also known as virtual schools, are noteworthy charter school developments that provide viable options for education. Charter schools in general and cyber charter schools in particular are not "revenue neutral" to local school districts. Nationwide, hundreds of millions of dollars allocated for education are being routed…

The U.S. Department of Education recently published a notice of draft priorities and requirements for applying for "Race to the Top" (RTT) funding--$4.35 billion in competitive federal grants. Even though it constitutes the smallest piece of education stimulus funding in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, "Race to the…

This annual report provides a national perspective on Title II-D for federal fiscal year (FY) 2008 (2008-09 school year), as well as emergent trends based on data from the past seven years. Title II-D is the only federal education program with funds explicitly targeted to support state and local effective uses of educational technology in the …

Discusses the extensive use of formulas in the state support of public higher education and its implications for library services. (Author/PF)

By most accounts, the method used to determine the allocation of tuition support to public schools in Indiana is a complex endeavor understood by few. Governor Mitch Daniels and policymakers are publicly calling for a simplified funding process that provides transparent goals that Hoosier citizens can fully comprehend. As state leaders embark on…

This report offers an array of steering mechanisms to help advance South Africa's higher education goals (equity and redress, efficiency, development, and accountability). Building on the experiences of other nations, the paper proposes both base formulas and non-base funding mechanisms that, combined, suggest that such policy-driven steering…

The Oregon University System developed a resource allocation model to equitably distribute state funding based on university mission and enrollments by level of instruction. A primary feature is that dollars (general fund and tuition and fees) follow the student to his or her enrolling university and are not redistributed to other programs and…

Asserts that the crisis in financing European higher education calls for the diversification of funding mechanisms. Suggests that the public authorities, which until now have born most of the burden of financing, must transfer a good portion of the burden to users, i.e., student and parents, and to the private sector. Explores methods for…