Conceptions of equity that serve as a basis for resource allocation policies in education have long been the focus of public debate, scholarship, and litigation. This article reviews the struggle between the public policy goals of local control (liberty) and equal opportunity (equality) as the guiding rationale for conceptions of equity. It then discusses and analyzes resource allocation policies proposed to bridge the contradictions embedded within these differing perspectives. Finally, it considers the emergent construct of adequacy, together with the legal ramifications of the foregoing analysis. It is argued that inviolability should be the basis for conceptions of equity that guide resource allocation policies but that invidiousness persists. This is so because the quality of a child's education remains a function of the wealth of his or her parents and neighbors and this is a direct result of how states finance education.
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