Discusses recent school finance litigation and legislation in Ohio resulting in school finance reform with an emphasis on educational adequacy. Focuses on the politics of school finance reform. (Contains 41 references.) (PKP)

Compares Kentucky's school district organization with those of other states; defines "small" school districts; analyzes the relationship between district size and state education costs in Kentucky; concludes that state cannot save money by consolidating small school districts. (Contains 48 references.) (Authors/PKP)

Discusses the use of dynamic systems modeling in the field of school finance policy. Provides detailed description of the use of computer-based systems-modeling simulations to New Jersey school finance equity problems. (Contains 37 references.) (PKP)

Discusses the role of selected variables in explaining changes in reading and mathematics achievement scores of fourth-graders in a low-wealth school district in North Carolina. Examines school and teacher characteristics, selected expenditures per student, and student demographics. Concludes that certain student demographic factors are…

Discusses the effect of six independent variables on variations in average teacher salaries among Canadian provinces: Population density, family income, farmland price, population growth, teacher supply and demand, and unemployment rate. Finds that family income and farmland price are positively related to teacher salaries. (Contains 56…

Examines the U.S. Department of Education's Impact Aid program, a financial subsidy program for military children attending local public schools, specifically the influence of the complex funding formula combining the basic support program (BSP) with the learning opportunity threshold (LOT) on the distribution of aid to school districts. (PKP)

Provides an extensive state-level and local-level analysis of the distribution of the federal government's financial aid to elementary and secondary schools, especially from the U.S. Department of Education. (PKP)

Examines several alternative ways for school districts to reduce the construction costs of new facilities. Finds that spacing out the start of facility construction projects and building during economic downturns in the construction industry offer the best options for construction cost savings. (PKP)

Examines the effectiveness of new funding formula included in major education reform legislation passed by the Tennessee legislature in early 1990s. Finds unanticipated outcomes. For example, while the variance in per-pupil spending among districts is smaller than before the legislation, the gap between the per-pupil spending of one-third of the…

Analyzes cost effectiveness of the Pathways to Teaching Careers, a program that supports an alternative route to university-based teacher certification primarily for noncertified teachers, paraprofessionals, and Peace Corps volunteers. (PKP)

Examines the use of the lease purchase of school facilities in Texas; provides background on the use of lease purchases by Texas school districts; describes factors influencing the use of lease purchases and superintendents' experiences based on survey responses from 50 school districts; recommends careful evaluation of advantages and…

Examines the impact of educational reforms on horizontal equity and funding neutrality across school districts in Alberta, Canada. Analysis highlights both the intended and unintended consequences associated with the changes. For example, the changes appear to have increased the percentage of total funding being spent on classroom instruction.…

Examines the implementation of Short-Lived Unanticipated Grants (SLUG) in Connecticut to determine to what extent the political process distorted the reform. Describes the SLUG proposal and its estimation in the median-voter model. Describes evidence of special-interest behavior of the school bureaucracy. Questions use of median-voter model to…

Reviews literature on cost-of-living adjustments. Analyzes advantages and disadvantages of three alternative strategies for updating the Texas Cost-of-Education Index used in its school finance formula: A comparable-wage index, a cost-of-services index, and a cost-of-outcomes index. (Contains 38 references.) (PKP)

Reviews 1999 school finance legislation, analyzes 1994-99 state education finance activity, and discusses established and emergent trends in funding for school infrastructure, educational technology, charter schools, student achievement (class-size reduction, school-year extensions, reading instruction, and alternative placements), teacher…