An Analysis of Resource Inequality at the State, District, and School Levels.

the most part, the burden of raising revenues to fund public schools in the U.S. is shared by state governments and local school districts. The federal government additionally provides funds for K-l education, though its share has typically ranged from 5 to 10 percent of total expenditures and has been targeted for at-risk students. The proportion of revenues contributed by each of the three levels of government varies from district to district, as well as from state to state. Moreover, because of the disparities that this scheme generates in the amount of money available for the provision of educational services, controversy exists about how much equality should exist in school finance and what level of government is responsible for ensuring that this result is achieved. Proponents of greater school finance equity have challenged the legality of the existing system at several levels. In the landmark case of Rodriguez v. San Antonio Independent School District (1973), the United States Supreme Court ruled that access to free public education is not a fundamental right under the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.2 This decision virtually halted further challenges of school finance inequity at the federal level, rendering irrelevant the issue of disparity in s tatetostate levels of elementary and secondary