Download or read book Equity and Adequacy in Missouri's School Finance Plan written by Glenn Thomas Brown and published by . This book was released on 1998 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Purpose of study. Legislative changes incorporated in Senate Bill 380 and Senate Bill 676 impacted the equity and adequacy of the funding of Missouri schools. This study determines whether revenue equity and fiscal neutrality considerations have been beneficially impacted by the legislative changes. Financial data from the Missouri school districts in 1992-93 before Senate Bill (SB) 380 and SB 676 are compared to financial data four years later in 1996-97. Methodology. The population of this study consisted of all 525 public school districts in Missouri. Three special school districts were eliminated because they function with a different purpose from the other districts, one district was eliminated because financial data was not available for both 1993 and 1997. The remaining school districts make up the sample (N = 521). Consideration was made to remove the Kansas City School District and the St. Louis School District, but both were left in and analysis was made to determine if they provided undue influence on the statistical results. Data collected from the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education were analyzed to determine whether significant differences existed for adequacy and equity measures between 1992-93 and 1997-98. Descriptive statistics were used to compare variances in the financial support and the means in financial support. The variances were analyzed using a paired-samples t -test for correlated variances, while the means were compared using the dependent t -test for correlated means. T -tests were tested at the 0.05 alpha level. Results. After full implementation of the funding changes incorporated in SB 380 as modified by SB 676, the funding of Missouri public schools was found to be more equitable. The per-pupil revenue from local sources has increased in range and in variance, which is consistent with schools from poor communities contributing less from local sources per-pupil and school districts from wealthy communities contributing more per-pupil. The per-pupil revenue from state sources has also increased in range and in variance, which is consistent with school districts from poor communities receiving more per-pupil from state sources and school districts from wealthy communities receiving less per-pupil from state sources. Correlated with this, a decrease in the range and variance of operating levies can be seen, which indicates that the tax burden per $100 of assessed valuation has become more equal across all school districts, irrespective of whether the district is in a poor or wealthy community. The funding of Missouri public schools was also found to be more adequate. After completing the phase-in of the new monies appropriated by the General Assembly, as well as the increase in local levies required by SB380, the revenue for public schools was significantly higher than it had been prior to the funding changes. The mean per-pupil revenue increased significantly at the local, state, and the combined local/state level between 1992-93 and 1996-97. Public school funding is both more adequate and equitable after the completion of the funding changes incorporated in SB380 and modified by SB676.