An Alternative to the Use of Simplistic Formulas for Determining State Resource Allocation in School Finance Programs

Abstract

Public school finance in the United States is highly decentralized and can be described as the sum of separately determined school finance programs established by each state. Since funds to support educational expenditures in a school district come from various sources, primarily state and local, it is necessary for states to derive schemes by which these resources can be combined to finance education at the local level. The administration and derivation of these resource allocation schemes is usually carried out at the state level.