Foreword

Paul D. Planchon

Associate Commissioner
Surveys and Cooperative Systems Group

The (NCES) attempts to understand the dynamically changing landscape in education finance by commissioning papers from distinguished members of the school finance research community. These esteemed scholars are asked either to:

• Assess the data needs of the profession;
• Deal with difficult statistical and measurement questions that arise when conducting empirical and quantitative research;
• Examine pragmatic education finance issues for states, school districts, or schools.

The papers presented here were commissioned by NCES to address the question of the current and financial future for school districts in two distinct fashions. One set of papers explores the present: papers examine how a retiring work force may influence the finances of school districts; how school districts respond to fiscal exigencies, and the efficacy of urban school districts. The remainder propose a imaginative new way of funding education, at the school level, and simulate the results for Texas.

This compilation of papers is the third in the renewal of this series, which previously was discontinued in 1977. The papers are intended to promote the exchange of ideas among researchers and policymakers. Because the views are those of the authors, the papers may provoke discussions, replications, replies and refutations. If so, the publication will have accomplished its task. There are few things so satisfying to NCES as promoting and contributing to the thinking and discussion of academia and the public in an area such as education finance.