IDENTIFICATION AND ANALYSIS OF INDIANA SCHOOL FINANCE CHANGES AND TRENDS, 1964 THROUGH 1983

The historical development of Indiana school finance had been documented by various studies. With one exception, however, all of these had been at least 15 years old. Thus, longitudinal studies of school finance in the state extended only through the late 1960's. The studies since that time had all been cross-sectional in nature. A need existed, therefore, for a study which looked at Indiana school finance over approximately the past two decades in order to present a longitudinal perspective of this broader period rather than to offer a cross-sectional view of school finance at any one point in time within that period.;The study identified 12 school finance changes and 15 school finance trends for the period 1964-1983. The needs for each change were also identified. The study concluded that a concern for property taxes, property tax relief, and the ratio of state support to local support were dominant concerns of the period, replacing equalization which was the major concern of the 1960's; that significant changes occurred through legislative rather than through judicial action; that the General Assembly appeared responsive to special interests, taxpayer constituents, and immediately felt needs; and that any future school finance changes of a long-range nature were likely to come only from the executive branch of state government rather than from the legislative branch.;This study was conducted in two broad parts. The first part consisted of a document analysis of school finance legislation, relevant court cases, and attorney general opinions of the period 1964-1983 in order to identify what seemed to be important changes in the financing of Indiana's public schools. Based on the identified changes, a listing of school finance trends was also formulated. The resulting changes and trends were ranked by eight school finance specialists using a forced-choice system and using two-hour, taped interviews with the specialists. The second part of the study identified both the needs which the changes attempted to address as well as the importance of each trend.