Equity in Michigan's school finance system for students participating in the state Compensatory Education program.

Abstract

This equity assessment of Michigan's school finance system is directed at K-12 public school funding arrangements associated with the state-funded Compensatory Education program during the 1977 to 1987 time period. This study fixes attention on the principle of vertical equity in an effort to identify equity trends in specific revenue allocations and expenditures associated with the state-funded program. Vertical equity can be expressed as the unequal treatment of unequals--i.e., students with special needs--and its measurement requires the identification of unequals, specification of appropriately unequal treatment, and measurement of vertical equity based on the prior identification and specification (Berne and Stiefel, 1984 p. 221). The investigation draws on the three-dimensional equity model developed by Berne and Stiefel (1984) and the recent work of Kearney and Chen (1988). The findings reported and summarized indicate a movement away from the vertical equity for students participating in the state-funded Compensatory Education program from 1977 through 1987. Observations and conclusions provide information and insights into the policy implications associated with Michigan's funding arrangements. It seems clear that the funding arrangements for these special needs students have not been equitable, thus indicating that the policies associated with this time period have been more symbolic rather than actually addressing the true concerns that accompany the education of these special needs students.