Title: Making money matter :
Authors: Ladd, Helen F.; Hansen, Janet S.; National Research Council (U.S.).; National Research Council (U.S.).
Date: 1999
Publisher: National Academy Press,
Physical description: xiii, 352 pages ; 24 cm
Language: English
LC class: L
Abstract: "This book contains a comprehensive review of the theory and practice of financing public schools by federal, state, and local governments in the United States. It distills the best available knowledge about the fairness and productivity of expenditures on education and assesses options for changing the finance system."--BOOK JACKET.
Contents: Executive summary : The committee's charge and approach ; Fairness and productivity in school finance ; Strategies for meeting the goals -- pt. I. Introduction. 1. Introduction : Charge to the committee ; Shifting expectations of school finance ; Education, values, and the role of expertise ; Overview of the report -- 2. Setting the stage : Roles and responsibilities in American education : Facilitating higher levels of achievement for all students in a cost-efficient manner ; Breaking the nexus between student background characteristics and student achievement ; Raising revenues fairly and efficiently ; Strategies for meeting the goals --pt. II. Fairness and productivity in school finance. 3. Equity I: spending on schools : the meaning of equity ; Pursuing finance equity through the courts ; Other approaches to spending equity ; Reform and spending inequities ; Equity at the dawn of the new century --^ 4. Equity II: the adequacy of education : Possible meanings of adequacy ; The shift toward adequacy ; State responses to the adequacy movement ; Conceptual and technical challenges ; Promises and pitfalls -- 5. Improving the productivity of schools : Defining and measuring productivity ; Understanding educational productivity ; Using finance-related strategies to improve school performance -- pt. III. Strategies for meeting the goals. 6. Achieving goal 1: promoting higher achievement in a cost-efficient way : Reducing funding inequities and inadequacies ; Investing in capacity ; Changing incentives to make performance count ; Empowering schools or parents or both to make decisions about the use of public funds ; Conclusions -- 7. Achieving goal 2: breaking the nexus : Reducing funding inequities and inadequacies ; Investing in capacity ; Changing incentives to make performance count ; Empowering schools or parents or both to make decisions about the use of public funds --^ 8. Achieving goal 3: raising revenue fairly and efficiently : Evaluation of the property tax ; Should the mix of local taxes be changed ; Would state taxes be better? ; Should states play a bigger role in revenue raising? ; Should a greater share of funding for education come from the federal government? ; Conclusion -- 9. Conclusion : Balancing values ; Focusing on adequacy ; Promoting fair spending and revenue raising ; Making money matter more ; New research initiatives for urban areas -- Appendixes : A. Data needs ; B. Biographical sketches.