"Policy Alert" is a publication series that summarizes important policy findings affecting the future of higher education. This issue finds that states, and higher education in particular, are likely to face very tight budget conditions for the next decade. These findings are based on eight-year projections that update the work of Harold Hovey.…

Responsibility for expenditures by schools in Hawaii for such utilities as electricity, telephone, gas, water, and sewer is shifting from the Department of Education to schools. In shifting responsibility for processing telephone and electricity payments to local schools while retaining management functions, the department failed to develop clear…

This report examines cost sharing, a term that combines the concepts of direct-cost recovery and indirect contributions from pupils, their parents, and sponsors. Such contributions may be voluntary, quasi-compulsory, or even compulsory. For the study reported here, cost sharing is used when the subject under discussion is not restricted to…

Study intends to show, "what is saved public budgets by the existence of Catholic Schools. (Author)

A look at present, past and future relationships between the government and higher education. (Editor)

The senator explains the basic concepts of New Federalism, including a rethinking of responsibilities and intergovernmental relations and a reconsideration of the role of state and local government. (SK)

Two shortcomings in the implementation of guaranteed tax base or equalization formulas--limitations on state equalization aid and inaccurate portrayal of fiscal capacity--can maintain or increase financial disparities among school districts. Data on Michigan districts illustrate how inaccurate fiscal measurement expanded existing disparities…

Addresses significant components of Connecticut's new education finance law: the guaranteed tax base, educational need, the minimum expenditure requirement, and educational equity. (Author/IRT)

In late 2005 the Select Panel on Revisioning Education in Maine issued their draft report describing a series of recommendations for the improvement of student learning in Maine. The Panel, convened by the Maine State Board of Education, and pursuant to Tile 20-A statutory requirements, developed their recommendations through six months of data…

Findings of a study that examined the relationship between Pennsylvania teachers' salaries and local wealth are presented in this paper. Statistical analyses of 491 Pennsylvania school districts involved regression, t tests, and chi square. Findings indicate that two factors had a statistically significant impact on local teacher salaries: (1) the…

Questions about inequities in educational funding were raised in New Jersey when the legislature enacted the state's second major education-finance-reform law, the Quality Education Act of 1990 (QEA). This paper describes changes in revenues, expenditures, and programs in 11 diverse New Jersey school districts during the first year of…

The effect of the School District Equalization Act (SDEA) on school financing in Kansas is analyzed in this report. Included is a discussion of the context of the present legal action, a description of the present statutory scheme and evaluation framework, a longitudinal statistical assessment of the SDEA in relation to the entire state and…

Efforts to monitor the financial condition of colleges and universities have arisen from concerns about the effects of economic and demographic pressures. Researchers have attempted to monitor financial condition through two types of research: subjective studies and objective financial indicator studies. Subjective analyses can be useful for…

The three largest cities in Japan--Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya--are used to examine the financial situation of Japanese urban areas. The 1949 Shoup Mission findings and recommendations are reviewed. Demographic data and information on the administrative and the fiscal organization of Japanese cities during the past three decades are presented. Details…