ABSTRACT
The democratic norm of equality in modern democracies suggests that all citizens should be treated equally by the law and that they should have an equal chance to participate in decision making. This chapter demonstrates how the norm is contested in American school finance. In this context, policymakers debate whether equal spending or equal educational outcomes fulfill the norm best. Yet policy-makers who propose replacing the simple definition of equality have found no widely acceptable alternative and, as the chapter shows, all definitions of financial equality have found their way into court. The chapter discusses policy inputs, outputs, and outcomes in more depth and provides a basic overview of the dilemmas in American school finance. Inequity between school districts in terms of spending was recognized as a public policy problem in the 1920s, and states have experimented with a number of means to balance equality with self-rule.
