A Quick Glance at School Finance: A 50-State Survey of School Finance Programs (review)

In A Quick Glance at School Finance, Verstegen, Jordan, and Amador have compiled a comprehensive two-volume reference guide that details school finance policies in the United States during the 2006-2007 school year. State-by-state descriptions that detail each component of the finance system are included in volume one. Volume two separates the components of state finance systems-for example, a description of the state formula, capital outlay, transportation, special education, compensatory education, and ELL-and draws comparisons across states. Data for the report were obtained through the use of surveys that were sent to each State Department of Education. Although the authors did not include a copy of the survey, they do explain their methodology in the preface so that future researchers may replicate the study. Perhaps the greatest contribution of this work is that it provides an accurate snapshot of the current state of school finance across the county. This reference should prove invaluable to researchers and policy analysts who wish to study how finance structures further the social justice goals inherent in education policy.

This work is particularly timely given the current economic crisis in our country. Unfortunately, in lean times, education funding becomes a casualty of state legislatures who are struggling to balance tight budgets. The extant literature notes that there is rarely a link between state finance systems and student-outcome goals that are an inherent part of standards-based reform. Instead, the amount of monies provided to schools is largely a product of available revenues. The use of A Quick Glance provides a thorough description of the finance systems currently used in the 50 states. In so doing, it is an ideal resource for those wishing to study the concepts of equity, efficiency, and adequacy at the state-policy level. In our review, we present some uses of this research for the purposes of comparisons across states. In addition, we attempt to illustrate how this resource may be used to encourage discussion on the need to reform education finance systems.

The authors of this compendium utilized survey research to compile information about each state finance system. Volume one confirms the fact that most states still make use of a foundation program to fund their respective systems of public education. Further, each state makes use of "add on" programs that are either categorical in nature (i.e., ELL, special education, and compensatory education), or that serve a specific purpose (i.e., capital outlay and transportation). A Quick Glance helps readers move from the conceptual knowledge of how schools are funded to succinctly determining what categories states utilize, as well as noting the differences or unique systems of states. While some states provided a basic description of how state funding is allocated to schools, other states included details such as formula revision dates, weighted student counts, or pupil counts. States like New Hampshire, Florida, Oregon, and Maine have sought to equalize financing by including equity or adequacy provisions. For comparison purposes, it is interesting for researchers studying the equity and adequacy of each system to note how states define and operationalize those concepts. On the revenue-raising side of the equation, some states rely on millage and differentiated tax structures, while others have included tiers to account for transportation, employee salaries, benefits, and compensation. The vast differences reflect how public education is truly a state function.

Researchers have been critical of the continued use of foundation programs because such systems are based on an antiquated notion of equity. Evidence suggests that a finance system that is designed to provide equal resources to students is not sufficient to meet the social justice goals inherent in current state and federal education policy. Further, while most states do include a weighted per pupil component to their finance system in an attempt to improve vertical equity, these weightings are rarely grounded in the literature. Lastly...