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This paper examines the outlook for school finance over the next five years. The environment for increases in real school revenue per pupil in the rest of the 1990s will not be favorable. The most significant problem is likely to be reductions in federal aid to states. States will respond to decreases in federal aid for social and health programs by trimming increases in state education aid. Other negative factors will be continued strong competition for state tax dollars from corrections and health programs and conservative state tax policy. A dynamic economy will benefit schools in selected states, but the overall rate of economic growth is likely to be moderate at best. Although some states will shift reliance away from property taxes, most states will not do so.

Ruling Out Rules: The Evolution of Deregulation in State Education Policy
Susan H. Fuhrman and Richard F. Elmore
March 1995 (RR-033), 34 pp., $10.00

This paper examines the evolution of deregulation from limited waiver programs to charter programs and new performance-based accountability systems that include broad-scale deregulation. Early deregulation programs were so limited in design that they had very modest results, but policymakers are finding expanded efforts very difficult to achieve. Many of the same political forces and habits of practice that limited early efforts continue to pose barriers to deregulation. Underlying the barriers is an historic, continuing uncertainty about the state role and about how states should relate to districts of varying types.

School-Based Management: Promise and Process
Priscilla Wohlstetter and Susan Albers Mohrman
(No. FB-05-11/94)

This Finance Brief summarizes research that investigated how school-based management can be implemented so that it is more than just a catch-phrase. It is not possible for SBM to succeed simply by giving schools more power over such things as budgets, personnel and curriculum. In addition to power, schools need three other commodities found to be essential for making good and productive decisions: knowledge of the organization; information about student performance and comparisons with other schools, about whether parents and community leaders are satisfied with the school, and about the resources available; and rewards to acknowledge the extra effort SBM requires as well as to recognize improvements.

Reinventing Teacher Compensation Systems
Carolyn Kelley & Allan Odden
(No. FB-06-September 1995)

This brief provides a short history of changes in teacher compensation over the last century and a discussion of key organizational and educational changes today that could be reinforced by a new teacher compensation structure. It also suggests some new teacher pay elements and a set of principles which could be used when redesigning how teachers are paid.

Reforming Science, Mathematics, and Technology Education: NSF's State Systemic Initiatives
(RB-15-May 1995)

In order to assess the results of the Statewide Systemic Initiatives (SSI) Program funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), NSF contracted with SRI International and its partners, to conduct a national evaluation of the SSI program. This brief presents some initial observations about the SSIs based on the first two years of the evaluation study, and discusses some of the issues state and local leaders are facing as they attempt to transform science, mathematics, and technology education.

Challenges in Systemic Education Reform
Susan H. Fuhrman
(No. RB-14-9/94)

Reform is generating a great deal of excitement and energy and is associated with many positive classroom changes. But policymakers and educators are also facing a number of challenges in designing and implementing the new policies. This issue of CPRE Policy Briefs examines these challenges as well as strategies states are using to address them. It draws from CPRE's studies of reform in 19 states and from discussions with staff of policymaker associations involved in providing assistance to states.

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