The primary purpose of this study was to determine provisions for equality and liberty for the funding of school capital expenditures in each of the 50 states. More specifically, the following issues were analyzed: (a) the extent to which state policies provide equality in funding school facility construction, (b) the extent to which state policies provide local boards liberty in decisions on funding school facility construction, and (c) categorization of the 50 states with respect to provision of liberty and equality for capital outlay funding. A descriptive database of the capital outlay funding systems for each of the 50 states was developed.A descriptive survey research procedure was used. Data were collected from August through November 1999 using a survey instrument developed by the author. Usable data were received from all states.States were categorized as high, moderate, or low with regard to their potential to achieve funding equality and liberty for local districts. Only one state, Hawaii, ranked low in liberty; however, 18 states ranked low in equality. Six states ranked high in both liberty and equality.The following conclusion were formulated: (a) states that continue to rank low in equality are likely to face future litigation; (b) the courts have tolerated some degree of inequality to preserve liberty; (c) politics and not economics often determined how state legislatures responded to equality concerns; (d) differences among the states are far greater with respect to equality than they are with respect to liberty; (e) many states will continue to experience considerable conflict over funding school construction because of the inevitable tensions between liberty and equality.Further study was recommended in both the 18 low equality states and the six states that ranked high in both equality and liberty. The purpose should be to identify legal, political, and economic variables that affected school construction finance policies in those states. / Department of Educational Leadership
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BSU/oai:cardinalscholar.bsu.edu:handle/180497 |
| Date | January 2000 |
| Creators | Schmielau, Robert E. |
| Contributors | Kowalski, Theodore J. |
| Source Sets | Ball State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Format | xi, 196 leaves ; 28 cm. |
| Source | Virtual Press |
| Coverage | n-us--- |
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