This booklet discusses past and anticipated legislative activities in school finance, court actions, and research issues. It is divided into three major sections. The first covers the major school finance events of 1976 for selected states, the anticipated major events of 1977, and court actions. The second section covers the dominant issues that are shaping school finance policy concerns: (1) educational finance reform; (2) the role of income in public school finance; (3) categorical aid versus general school aid; (4) cost-of-education differentials among school districts; (5) the impact of school finance structures on minority and low-income students; (6) public education and changing demographic, economic, and political patterns; (7) the Federal role in education finance; (8) collective bargaining; (9) school finance and state/local tax policy; and (10) state analytic capabilities. The third section consists of brief summaries of school finance issues in each of the 50 states. The appendix contains a glossary of school finance and tax terms. (MM)