Abstract
This essay reviews major publications from the field of school finance. It also covers prominent studies from aspects of the economics of education that are closely related to the field of education finance. The paper includes reviews of articles, research studies, and textbooks, focusing primarily on work published in the 1980s. Issues discussed include the theoretical concepts that undergird the field of school finance, practical alternatives for raising and distributing education funds, and allocation of resources to enhance equity and efficiency in education. Specific topics covered include teacher compensation, measuring equity, inputs and outputs in education, cost of education indices, municipal overburden, education decision making, the importance of time in learning, and school productivity. The essay closes by noting the increasing sophistication of both education policy makers and researchers. The author argues that more penetrating questions by policy makers are stimulating more enlightened and enlightening studies by researchers. The insights from these studies, he suggests, are likely to help improve the American education enterprise.
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