ABSTRACT
America's K—12 schools now require more than $3 billion per day to operate, a figure that has been increasing faster than general price inflation for more than 50 years. The education systems quest for elevated outcomes, higher academic standards, enhanced instruction, practical performance incentives, and greater cost effectiveness has moved education finance from the periphery of policymaker concern to a far more central role. As a result, education financing is now a principal instrument for mediating educational policy.
