Equity and Comparative State Responses to Education Finance Reform.

Overview & Synopsis

This study examines the importance of state spending on education to equally distribute finances to each district. Current legislation is in the courts because some local districts claim unfair distribution of state funds. This study's focus is on the impact of judicial and legislative branch discussions that attempt to equalize education finance. Four hypotheses are presented that explain the variation in state pupil education spending: judicial intervention, legislative institutional arrangements, political competition, and socioeconomic conditions. The study results are both intuitive and counter-intuitive in that political partisan arrangements matter in how education benefits are distributed. Ambivalence of the public's attitudes plays a part in financial reform as well as in resistance to legislative policies. Contains 28 references. (JAG)