If district quality had been equalized under state finance, homebuyers would not continue to pay large premiums for houses in desirable school districts. Yet the authors found a wide range of premiums across school districts in the two counties they studied. These disparities indicate that parents continue to perceive large differences in quality across school districts in those areas. Despite the poor outcomes associated with the shift to state finance, the authors note that it may be too early to judge school finance reform negatively. California has changed the way it finances its schools without changing the way it governs them.
School boards continue to govern districts, but the state controls how funds are allocated.
One way to implement state governance is to eliminate school districts altogether. Such a system would replace legislative rulemaking with bureaucratic control, making it easier to allocate state resources according to need. This arrangement would also make it easier to hold teachers, principals, and schools accountable to state guidelines. Charter schools are another possibility. Authorized in 1992, charter schools operate according to their own goals and procedures, are exempt from most state regulations, and are entitled to block grants equal to what they would receive from a typical school district.