Robert Berne

Measuring Equity at the School Level: The Finance Perspective

This article explores conceptual, methodological, and empirical issues in resource allocation at the intradistrict and school levels. With increased attention focused on policies and data related to resources within districts, it is important that analytical problems and potential solutions be debated by researchers. The article develops ways that equity concepts can apply at the school level, identifies a series of methodological issues, and includes an empirical analysis of vertical equity at the intradistrict and school levels in New York City.

Cutback budgeting: The long-term consequences

This study asks whether short-term cutbacks made during a fiscal crisis become permanent once fiscal conditions improve. Hypotheses are developed to establish a framework for analyzing a time-series data set. These hypotheses address trade-offs between less essential versus more essential services, salaries versus positions, and capital versus operating expenditures. Then long-term consequences are assessed with a longitudinal, comparative case study of the effects of New York Citys mid-1970s fiscal crisis on education services in the city. Education services were cut dramatically in 1976 and 1977. The trends in those services, defined in various ways, are compared over time and in relationship to the rest of New York State. We find that less essential services, teacher positions, and capital and maintenance expenditures suffered, relative to more essential services, operating expenditures, and teacher salaries.

SCHOOL FINANCE COURT CASES AND DISPARATE RACIAL IMPACT The Contribution of Statistical Analysis in New York

Although analyses of state school finance systems rarely focus on the distribution of funds to students of different races, the advent of racial discrimination as an issue in school finance court cases may change that situation. In this article, we describe the background, analyses, and results of plaintiffs’ testimony regarding racial discrimination in Campaign for Fiscal Equity Inc. v. State of New York. Plaintiffs employed multiple regression and public finance literature to show that New York State’s school finance system had a disparate racial impact on New York City students. We review the legal basis for disparate racial impact claims, with particular emphasis on the role of quantitative statistical work, and then describe the model we developed and estimated for the court case. Finally, we discuss the defendants’rebuttal, the Court’s decision, and conclude with observations about the role of analysis in judicial decision making in school finance.

The Equity of School Finance Systems Over Time: The Value Judgments Inherent in Evaluation

Numerous value judgments are embedded in the standards utilized to evaluate whether a school finance system has become more or less equitable over time. A four-component framework is proposed to high light these value judgments in equity standards. Data from twenty states are analyzed to demonstrate that alternative value judgments affect the measurement of a states movement toward or away from equity. Implications for policymakers and administrators are discussed.

Social policy: school finance

For well over three decades, the concepts of equity and efficiency have been used by policy analysts and elected officials to frame the debate about the formulation and evaluation of public policies and programs. In this paper we use these ideas to organize an historical analysis of policies and research strategies in K‐12 education finance from the 1960s through the 1990s. In each decade we stress the dominant themes, major events, and research strategies regarding equity and efficiency, knowing that themes and research strategies span many decades but are sometimes in the foreground and other times in the background. We conclude with an assessment of how these two concepts can be compatible and how current policies are increasingly “win‐win” ones that are proposed to make progress on both goals.

Teaching Budgeting: A Basic Course in Public Sector Financial Management

In recent years, many graduate schools of public administration have introduced concentrations or tracks in public financial management. We hope that Professor Bernes description of the introductory course at New York University will provoke responses, particularly from practitioners. Those of us who are academics do have a responsibility to public sector managers!

Social Science Research and School Finance Policy: Documentable Impact or Wishful Thinking?

During the past two decades, an increasing number of social science researchers have addressed public policy issues. One by-product of this activity has been a healthy questioning of the impact of research on policy. Within the education policy area, social science researchers have been particularly concerned with school finance policy, and their work provides a valuable basis for furthering our understanding of the impact of research on policy. Our question in this article is how, if at all, does social science research impact school finance policy. Three components of this question can be elaborated. By &dquo;social science research&dquo; we mean all systematic inquiry of relationships in society. Usually social science research is based on a specific theory, aims toward hypothesis testing,