http://worldcat.org/entity/work/id/5212620

Plain talk about school finance

The operation of a state's school finance system can be evaluated by viewing it against a set of predetermined goals. This process involves three steps: recognizing the decisions that were made in establishing the system's goals, showing how those goals were translated into policy, and assessing the success of the policy in achieving the goals set. Designed to initiate the nonspecialist in the basic concepts required for such an evaluation, this handbook of four chapters first introduces the topic of school finance and its current prominence. The second, and central, chapter discusses the role of state aid, the kinds of decisions underlying the goals of finance systems, the development of finance plans, the provisions of the major general aid formulas, and the concepts behind assessing a state aid plan's impact. Particular attention is paid to equalization methods. Chapter three describes generally how state and local revenue systems work and don't work. The final chapter covers the role of the federal government and federal aid in school finance. A glossary of 29 concepts in school finance and a bibliography of 55 items conclude the document. (Author/PGD).

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