Contemplation by the Illinois General Assembly of a new grant-in-aid system for school finance has suggested a review of educational finance in that state. Taxation maintaining support of public education since 1825 and the establishment of the first free schools are examined. The issue of local funding, the inequities caused by such funding due to the poor resources of some districts, and the steps taken by the General Assembly to correct that problem are investigated. The passage of the first state sales tax in an effort to save the schools during the depression of 1929 is covered, and the Resource Equalizer formula, calling for greater state aid to education and emphasizing reward for local effort and poverty impaction weighting for students, is examined. Developments such as legislative changes in the Resource Equalizer formula in 1976, changes in farm land assessment and poverty impaction weighting from 1977 to 1979, and the ending of the reward-for-local-effort experiment in 1980 are discussed. The 1984 proposal of the Resource Cost Model system of grant-in-aid, the 1985 educational reform bill, and the establishment in 1986 of various committees to review the grant-in-aid system are also examined. Thirteen notes and references conclude the monograph. (WTH)