Equity and Adequacy in Education Finance

Equity and Adequacy in Education Finance

Issues and Perspectives

  • Author: Hansen, Janet S.; Chalk, Rosemary; Ladd, Helen F.
  • Publisher: National Academies Press
  • ISBN: 9780309139328
  • eISBN Pdf: 9780309520669
  • eISBN Epub: 9780309173957
  • Place of publication:  United States
  • Year of digital publication: 1999
  • Month: February
  • Pages: 329
  • Language: English

Spending on K-12 education across the United States and across local school districts has long been characterized by great disparities—disparities that reflect differences in property wealth and tax rates. For more than a quarter-century, reformers have attempted to reduce these differences through court challenges and legislative action. As part of a broad study of education finance, the committee commissioned eight papers examining the history and consequences of school finance reform undertaken in the name of equity and adequacy. This thought-provoking, timely collection of papers explores such topics as:

  • What do the terms "equity" and "adequacy" in school finance really mean?
  • How are these terms relevant to the politics and litigation of school finance reform?
  • What is the impact of court-ordered school finance reform on spending disparities?
  • How do school districts use money from finance reform?
  • What policy options are available to states facing new challenges from court decisions mandating adequacy in school finance?
  • When measuring adequacy, how do you consider differences in student needs and regional costs?
  • Front Matter
  • Contents
  • Preface
  • Introduction
  • 1 Concepts of School Finance Equity: 1970 to the Present
  • 2 School Finance Litigation in the Name of Educational Equity: Its Evolution, Impact, and Future
  • 3 The Impact of Court-Mandated School Finance Reform
  • 4 Court-Mandated School Finance Reform: What Do the New Dollars Buy?
  • 5 The Politics of School Finance in the 1990s
  • 6 Educational Adequacy and the Courts: The Promise and Problems of Moving to a New Paradigm
  • 7 Enabling “Adequacy” to Achieve Reality: Translating Adequacy into State School Finance Distribution Arrangements
  • 8 Performance Standards and Educational Cost Indexes: You Can’t Have One Without the Other
  • Biographical Summaries of Contributors
  • Index

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