Is the U.S. Supreme Court inviting litigants to take aim at unraveling injunctions in institutional reform litigation--especially consent decrees in the schools? In "Horne v. Flores" (2009), the court remanded a 17-year-old school reform case to a federal judge with orders to look beyond consent decrees on financing, reducing class…

The possibility is examined that school choice programs could be a means to reducing the achievement gap. Data based on meta-analytic research and the examination of nationwide data sets suggest that school choice programs that include private schools could reduce the achievement gap by 25%. The propounding of this possibility is based on research…

This study investigates the interrelationship of categorical funding mechanisms within the Colorado school finance system for English language learners (ELLs) in an effort to test overall equity of the system in light of an underfunded categorical program. Using several analytical techniques, the study set out to determine the degree to which…

This article examines the failure of school districts to distribute nonmoney resources--controlled primarily by the board of education--equally among students in affluent neighborhoods versus low-income areas. It is largely an urban phenomenon, although some county-wide and large suburban school systems display similar patterns. Such practices…

This study investigated the recent histories of the urban public school districts of St. Louis, Missouri and Cincinnati, Ohio in the United States of America. The purpose was to identify the similar challenges that each had recently faced in regard to the maintenance and development of its public school systems, as well to gauge the level of…

The focus on school-level performance brought about by the No Child Left Behind Act--as well as recent court cases challenging the use of race in student assignment policies--has brought greater attention to the need to for careful study of the allocation of resources within school districts. This paper describes the policy context, reviews key…

This article reviews educational initiatives of state and federal government that were designed to remedy the effects of racial segregation on Black public school students in the United States after the famous "Brown v. Board of Education" decisions. Several policy and legal initiatives are reviewed, including school desegregation, compensatory…

School choice programs have proliferated around the world since the 1980s. Following this international trend, the Direct Subsidy Scheme (DSS) was launched in 1991 to revitalize Hong Kong's private school sector. DSS schools receive a similar subsidy per student to that received by aided schools, but they may charge fees and have greater control…

This article examines the implications of competition between school districts in a mid-Michigan metropolitan area. Over the 10-year period after Michigan's major school-funding reform in 1994, many urban and suburban districts found themselves competing for per-pupil state funding. Suburban districts need extra students to make up budgetary…

Funding streams among impoverished school districts are influenced by interpretations of the constitution regarding educational legislation. Title I, in the current framework of No Child Left Behind (NCLB), has challenges that will affect urban policymakers' ability to serve the increasing Hispanic population entering the public school system.…

Similar to many property tax relief programs, New York State's School Tax Relief (STAR) program has been shown to exacerbate school resource inequities across urban, suburban, and rural schools. STAR's inherent conflict with the wealth equalization policies of New York State's school finance system are highlighted in a manner that effectively…

Although analyses of state school finance systems rarely focus on the distribution of funds to students of different races, the advent of racial discrimination as an issue in school finance court cases may change that situation. In this article, we describe the background, analyses, and results of plaintiffs' testimony regarding racial…

This article examines support for school bonds among minority group members in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, which includes the city of Charlotte. A survey was conducted shortly after a bitter court case and shortly before a proposed bond referendum. Support for bonds in the minority community was fairly moderate. Support was not related to…

This article discusses the inherent political nature of educational systems and the tensions that arise between this political nature and the agenda to promote education as a public good. Current debates about the efficacy of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) are used to illustrate this point. Although there is promise in the goals of NCLB, the…

This article proposes that four major educational developments resulted from the Supreme Court's decision in "Brown v. Board of Education, Topeka": Elementary and Secondary Education Act Title I and Title VII, school finance, affirmative action, and multicultural education. Each of these major efforts was targeted to overcome discriminatory…