According to the 21st annual Gallup/Phi Delta Kappa poll, the public favors school choice, a more standardized national curriculum, improvement of public school quality in poorer and innercity areas, reduction of class size in early grades, afternoon school and summer programs for children of working parents, and increased state and federal…

Surveys costs of education in China, focusing on three areas: national expenditures on education; unit cost of education; and educational cost functions. Relates the analysis of education costs to four enduring policy issues: resource mobilization, inequality, inequity, and inefficiency. Compared with other Asian countries, China's public…

The Texas experience with county education districts demonstrates that regional school taxing units can increase equity without new state money, eliminate the high-wealth advantage without forced consolidation, generate "state aid," support other state policies, set rate and expenditure limits, and establish an equal, uniform property…

The return of equity in the 1990s coincided with increased state court activity and a change in national direction. As the New York State Commissioner's Study Group found, there is now more focus on school-level and outcome equity issues. The group recommended that the state develop an outcome-based entitlement plan for all children. (MLH)

District-level fiscal equity, when achieved, will not necessarily result in a fairer distribution of educational resources. School-level inequities generally exceed those found at the district level in most states. If districts were required to distribute funds to schools on a per-pupil basis, school-level equalization could be accomplished…

Examines equity issues pertaining to special-education students, finance systems, and taxpayers. The major student equity focus is "inclusion." After passage of IDEA, reducing the number of restrictive special-education placements has become a clearly articulated policy objective. There is a movement away from cost-based to census-based…

Discusses incremental SBM budgeting and answers questions regarding resource equity, bookkeeping requirements, accountability, decision-making processes, and purchasing. Approaching site-based management as an incremental process recognizes that every school system engages in some level of site-based decisions. Implementation can be gradual and…

Traces financial aspects of the Chicago Public Schools' reform effort, detailing the prereform growth of bureaucracy that prompted legislated reallocation of the system's funds. Data show that funds have been reallocated to reduce administrative bureaucracy and equalize funding between schools. Schools with many low-income students have more…

Successful standards-based reform requires fundamental reconstruction of educational institutions and systems, so that high standards become the basis of curriculum, textbooks and other instructional materials, assessments, graduation requirements, and teacher education, certification, and training. A great failure of our public education system…

Argues that improved understandings about the transformation of resources into educational outcomes will benefit development of equity standards in educational finance. Distinguishes between two types of thinking progress: gains in understanding effective schooling ingredients and gains in reaching consensus about the purpose of schooling and the…

Reliance on market structures can help educators meet Clune's program adequacy goals. Transfer barriers should be eliminated so that teachers can freely choose schools with institutional missions approximating their own visions. Compensation should be based more on teacher knowledge and performance than on experience and training. A market-based…

Outlines strategies to reduce inequities in numerous counties, focusing on the distribution of financial and human resources. Also addresses issues of diversity and conformity in education systems. Reduction of regional imbalances does not necessarily require imposition of uniformity, but the diversity caused by decentralization is not always…

Confronting state funding problems and the federal government's decreasing fiscal responsibility for education, the U.S. House Subcommittee on Elementary and Secondary Education heard compelling testimony last fall from Kern Alexander, who described the "coming apart of America." Pointing to profound inequalities within states, he urged…

Develops a theoretical argument for regulating school choice, using pluralistic concepts. Applies this argument to documentary and interview data concerning a 30-year-old French school choice policy. Because France and the United States have the greatest economic inequalities among Western democracies, the French experience with choice is…

Argues that the school restructuring movement offers considerable promise for enhancing educational equity. Reviews equity definitions, outlines restructuring principles, and describes three powerful ethics (competitive/utilitarian, social justice, and caring) underlying current attempts to highlight equity values in education. Presents a strategy…