This paper analyzes data needs for policy purposes and is divided into three sections: (1) revenue and expenditure data; (2) human resources data; and (3) time and curriculum resources data. Federal data collection concerned with resources should identify the state as the unit of analysis, should broaden the definition of resources beyond revenues and expenditures to include people, time and curriculum, and should provide data on resource allocation and use within districts as well as resource distribution across districts. The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) should continue to collect state aggregate revenue and expenditure data, and revenue and expenditure data for a representative sample of districts, where the sample is representative of each of the 50 states as well as the United States as a whole. More detailed data on human resources in the education system are needed not only because policy interest is forging a tighter connection between dollars and what they purchase, but also because interest in the human resource component of education is high. Time and curriculum are the other two categories of resources into which revenues are converted, and some aggregate data on these two variables are needed. (LMO)