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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Equity and adequacy issues in education finance : issues and perspectives / Helen F. Ladd, Rosemary Chalk, and Janet S. Hansen, editors ; Committee on Education Finance, Commission on Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education, National Research Council.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-309-06563-1 (cloth)
1. Education—United States—Finance. 2. Educational equalization—United States. I. Ladd, Helen F. II. Chalk, Rosemary A. III. Hansen, Janet S. IV. National Research Council (U.S.). Committee on Education Finance.
LB2825 .E68 1999
379.1′1′0973—dc21
98-51230
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Copyright 1999 by the National Academy of Sciences. All rights reserved.
COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION FINANCE
HELEN F. LADD (Cochair),
Terry Sanford Institute of Public Policy, Duke University
THOMAS SOBOL (Cochair),
Teachers College, Columbia University
ROBERT BERNE, Vice President for Academic Development,
New York University
DENNIS N. EPPLE,
Graduate School of Industrial Administration, Carnegie Mellon University
SUSAN H. FUHRMAN,
Graduate School of Education, University of Pennsylvania
EDMUND W. GORDON,
Yale University (emeritus)
JAMES W. GUTHRIE,
Peabody College, Vanderbilt University
STEPHEN P. KLEIN,
RAND, Santa Monica, California
DIANA LAM, Superintendent,
San Antonio Independent School Districts
LAURENCE E. LYNN, JR.,
School of Social Service Administration, Harris Graduate School of Public Policy Studies, University of Chicago
GARY NATRIELLO,
Teachers College, Columbia University
ALLAN ODDEN,
School of Education, University of Wisconsin, Madison
JOHN THEODORE SANDERS, President,
Southern Illinois University
ROBERT M. SCHWAB,
Department of Economics, University of Maryland
KENNETH A. STRIKE,
College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Cornell University
STEPHEN D. SUGARMAN,
School of Law, University of California, Berkeley
JOAN TALBERT,
School of Education, Stanford University
AMY STUART WELLS,
Graduate School of Education and Information Studies, University of California, Los Angeles
JANET S. HANSEN, Study Director
ROSEMARY CHALK, Senior Program Officer
NEAL FINKELSTEIN, Senior Program Officer
ANNE MARIE FINN, Research Associate
THOMAS HUSTED, Senior Consultant
PAUL MINORINI, Senior Consultant
SHARON VANDIVERE, Senior Project Assistant
NATHANIEL TIPTON, Project Assistant
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Contents
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Concepts of School Finance Equity: 1970 to the Present |
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School Finance Litigation in the Name of Educational Equity: Its Evolution, Impact, and Future |
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The Impact of Court-Mandated School Finance Reform |
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Court-Mandated School Finance Reform: What Do the New Dollors Buy? |
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The Politics of School Finance in the 1990s |
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Educational Adequacy and the Courts: The Promise and Problems of Moving to a New Paradigm |
Enabling "Adequacy" to Achieve Reality: Translating Adequacy into State Finance Distribution Arrangements |
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Performance Standards And Educational Cost Indexes: You Can't Have One Without the Other |
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Tables
2-1 |
Overview of Litigation Involving State Education Finance Systems |
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2-2 |
Plaintiffs Won at State Supreme Court Level |
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2-3 |
Plaintiffs Lost at Supreme Court Level; No Further Complaints Filed or Further Complaints Also Lost |
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2-4 |
Plaintiffs Lost in Prior Action; Further Complaints Have Been Filed |
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2-5 |
Litigation Is Present; No Supreme Court Decision Has Been Rendered |
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2-6 |
No Litigation Is Present or Case Is Dormant |
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3-1 |
Summary of States with Court-Ordered Reforms, 1971-97 |
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3-2 |
Summary of Current Education Expenditures, 1972-92 |
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3-3 |
Impact of Court-Mandated Finance Reform on the Distribution of Education Resources, 1972-92 |
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3-4 |
Summary of Resources Adjusted for Cost of Living Differences, 1992 |
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3-5 |
Impact of Court-Mandated Finance Reform on Per-Pupil Revenue by Source of Revenue and Distribution of Household Income of Districts |
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3-6 |
Impact of Court-Mandated Finance Reform on Per-Pupil Revenue by Source and Race |
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4-1 |
Basic Education Funding Formulas in Effect, 1992-93: Kentucky, New Jersey, and Texas |
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4-2 |
Changes in State Aid per Pupil, Local Revenues per Pupil, Tax Rates (in mills), and Total Revenues per Pupil, 1989-90 to 1992-93: Kentucky, New Jersey, and Texas |
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4-3 |
Distribution of Education Revenues per Pupil and Tax Rates (in mills), 1989-90 and 1992-93: Kentucky, New Jersey, and Texas |
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4-4 |
Selected Equity Statistics, Current Revenues per Pupil, 1989-90 and 1992-93: Kentucky, New Jersey, and Texas |
4-5 |
Changes in Kentucky School District Per-Pupil Expenditure Patterns by Function, 1990 and 1993 |
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4-6 |
Changes in New Jersey School District Per-Pupil Expenditures, by Category, 1990-91 to 1993-94 |
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4-7 |
Spending Increases for Texas School Districts Between 1989-90 and 1992-93 |
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4-8 |
Percentage Expenditure Distributions Across Major Functions for Texas School Districts, 1989-90 and 1992-93 |
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4-9 |
Major New Expenditures in Kentucky, New Jersey, and Texas, 1989-90 to 1992-93 |
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7-1 |
Increased State Spending on Elementary and Secondary Education |
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7-2 |
Wyoming Prototypical Model: Elementary School, K-5; Preliminary Costs |
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7-3 |
Wyoming Prototypical Model: Middle/Jr. High, Grades 6-8; Preliminary Costs |
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7-4 |
Wyoming Prototypical Model: High School, Grades 9-12; Preliminary Costs |
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8-1 |
Education Cost Models (with and without New York City and Yonkers), New York School Districts, 1991 |
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8-2 |
Comparison of Education Cost Indices for New York State School Districts in 1991 |
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8-3 |
Correlations Between Education Cost Indices for New York State School Districts in 1991 |
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8-4 |
Comparison of Predicted Performance Under Different Foundation Formulas Relative to State Average Performance in 1991 for New York School Districts |
Boxes
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Preface
In the mid-1990s, the U.S. Congress requested a major study of the U.S. system of elementary and secondary education finance. In response to this request, the National Research Council (NRC) set up the Committee on Education Finance to undertake the study. The committee was established within the NRC's Commission on Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education.
This volume of background papers was prepared in connection with one part of the committee's study. The volume includes eight papers commissioned by the committee to inform its discussions about equity and adequacy in education finance, two of the issues it was specifically charged to address.
The preparation of this volume and the conduct of the larger study are supported by funds from the U.S. Department of Education that were appropriated as part of the legislation for the Departments of Education, Labor, and Health and Human Services in 1994 (P.L. 103-333). The study is being carried out under a contract with the National Institute on Educational Governance, Finance, Policy Making, and Management, part of the Department of Education's Office of Educational Research and Improvement. The views expressed by the authors are theirs alone and do not reflect the opinions of the Committee on Education Finance or the U.S. Department of Education.
The committee acknowledges the valuable contributions of the authors, who prepared and revised their papers within relatively short time periods, as well as the committee members and reviewers who provided thoughtful advice and criticism to the authors.
The papers in this volume have been reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise, in accordance with
procedures approved by the NRC's Report Review Committee. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the institution in making the published volume as sound as possible and to ensure that the volume meets institutional standards for objectivity and evidence. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the process.
We wish to thank the following individuals for their participation in the review of this volume: John Augenblick, Augenblick & Myers, Denver, Colorado; Dominic Brewer, RAND, Santa Monica, California; William Buss, College of Law, University of Iowa; David Figlio, Department of Economics, University of Oregon; Eric Hanushek, Department of Economics, University of Rochester; David Monk, Department of Education, Cornell University; Richard Murnane, Graduate School of Education, Harvard University; Lawrence Picus, School of Education, University of Southern California; Andrew Reschovsky, Robert N. Lafollette Institute of Public Affairs, University of Wisconsin; Julie Underwood, Department of Education, Miami University; and Arthur Wise, National Council on Accreditation of Teacher Education, Washington, D.C. Although these individuals have provided constructive comments and suggestions, it must be emphasized that responsibility for the final content of this volume rests entirely with the contributing authors and the NRC.
Several staff members also made important contributions to this work: Rosemary Chalk, a coeditor, was instrumental in shepherding the papers through the production process and providing oversight and editorial guidance during the preparation of the volume, Anne Marie Finn conducted extensive reference checks for each paper, and Nat Tipton and Sharon Vandivere ably assisted the authors by producing multiple iterations of the papers with technical efficiency.
This volume of background papers does not represent the committee's findings and conclusions about the equity or adequacy of school finance in the United States. Those conclusions must await the 1999 publication of the committee's final report. In the interim, the Committee on Education Finance hopes that the insights and perspectives presented in the following papers will be useful to all who are concerned with the challenges of achieving fairness in school finance and establishing equal educational opportunity for all students.
HELEN F. LADD, COCHAIR
JANET S. HANSEN, STUDY DIRECTOR
COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION FINANCE
Equity and Adequacy in Education Finance |