Summary
In many states school finance litigation has mandated the centralization of education funding in an attempt to improve educational adequacy. This study uses data on Ohio school districts to investigate the factors affecting school district performance and finds few aggregate variables that state education policymakers can change to improve student performance. The author argues that this presents a dilemma for state policymakers who are under a judicial order to improve educational opportunity through increased financing. Given the constraints imposed by the judiciary, the superior knowledge of local officials suggests that state policymakers should give local school district officials autonomy to craft local solutions.
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Extract
The Dilemma of School Finance Reform
1. Introduction
State governments have always played a significant role in education policy. Most state constitutions, for example, contain an education clause granting the state government the power to establish a system of common schools. These constitutional provisions are quite general in how education is to be provided. Some education clauses merely grant state governments the authority to establish a system of schools within broad constitutional guidelines. In Ohio, for example, Article 6 of the state Constitution says that the General Assembly "shall make such provisions, by taxation, or otherwise, as ... will secure a thorough and efficient system of common schools throughout the state." This provision is analogous to the clause in the U.S. Constitution giving Congress the power to provide for the common defense (Owsiany, 2001), in that it gives the General Assembly the authority to levy taxes for a "thorough and efficient" system of common schools, but leaves decisions about specific education policies to the discretion of policymakers.Over time the role of state governments in education policy has expanded considerably in terms of f...See the full content of this document
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