Present educational finance policies can be construed to be in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the United States Constitution's Fourteenth Amendment. Assisted by the National Urban Coalition, the authors of this book have compiled a great deal of information and analysis on school services in the State of Michigan--information which may typify such services throughout the country. One purpose of the book is to define equality of educational opportunity by exposing the roots of financial inequality. It sets up a conceptual chain that links socioeconomic status, school services, and school achievement with success in later life, showing that poor neighborhoods have poor schools and good education in American is a prerogative of the middle and upper classes. The book concludes with specific proposals for financing schools for equal opportunity and suggests means for implementing such a program, stating that a significant change would be to shift state support from school districts to individual schools as units of expenditure. (Author)