Equity and Adequacy in Education Finance

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?

Table of Contents

• Front Matter
• 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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