Developments In School Finance

Contains papers by state education dept. policymakers, analysts, and data providers on emerging issues in school finance. Includes: estimates of disparities and analysis of the causes of expenditures in public school districts; race, poverty and the student curriculum; court-ordered school finance equalization; resource allocation to schools under conditions of radical decentralization; building equity and effectiveness into school-based funding models; alternative options for deflating education expenditures over time; productivity collapse in schools; and evaluating the effect of teacher degree level on educational performance.

Each paper in this report offers a unique perspective or interesting quantitative research dealing with emerging issues in school finance. Contents: defining and measuring opportunity to learn; a international comparison of teacher salaries and conditions of employment; adequacy issues in recent education finance litigation; a report on educational facilities; what can we learn from comparing States with nations?; how do public elementary and secondary schools spend their money? Charts and tables. Extensive references for each paper.

The yearbook is organized around four issues, each of which can be viewed as representing an important focal point to improve teacher and teaching quality and having important implications for school finance. The issues are (1) teacher recruitment, induction, and retention; (2) the ongoing porfessional development of teachers; (3) equity in the allocation of teaching resources; (4) teacher compensation and workplace conditions.