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The new Federal revenue sharing proposal has been received with diverse reactions by politicians, economists, and citizens. The program is divided into $5 billion annually in general revenue sharing and $11 billion annually in special revenue sharing. Proposed alternatives to revenue sharing include (1) reduction of Federal taxes, thereby increasing the potential of State and local governments to increase taxes or to explore new tax sources; (2) a public service jobs program; (3) expansion and proliferation of present Federal aid programs; (4) Federal assumption of all costs of specific jointly financed programs; (5) a shift to block grants by the Federal Government as implied in special revenue sharing; (6) tax credits allowing taxpayers to subtract from their Federal income taxes a certain portion of their State and local taxes, and (7) coordination of State and Federal tax systems. (Author/LLR)

After noting that only 43.6 percent of the dollar value of school bond issues submitted to U.S. voters was approved during 1968-69, the author discusses various State grant and loan school construction programs. Alternatives to, and suggestions for, financing public school construction, as well as guidelines for developing State capital outlay support programs are provided. (LLR)

This document reports the results of the National Capital Outlay Project, the purposes of which were (1) to investigate the legal basis, procedures, and practices utilized by the 50 States in providing funds for public school construction and related debt service; and (2) to generate a series of capital outlay finance models that States could use in allocating loans or grants for construction of public elementary and secondary schools. The following topics are discussed: postwar financing of public school facilities, public school construction finance trends, public school construction and the economy, State and local provisions for financing public school facilities, the Federal role in school finance, and alternative programs for financing public schools. (Author/LLR)

A SCHOOL BUDGET CONTROVERSY IN KENOSHA, WISCONSIN, STIMULATED AN NEA-WEA SPECIAL COMMITTEE STUDY OF THE CONTROVERSY, THE COMMUNITY, THE CITY GOVERNMENT, AND THE SCHOOL SYSTEM. SCHOOL FINANCES AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF DISAGREEMENT BETWEEN THE BOARD OF EDUCATION AND THE CITY COUNCIL WERE CHRONOLOGICALLY TRACED. COMMUNICATION BREAKDOWN BETWEEN THE BOARD OF EDUCATION AND THE CITY COUNCIL WAS PERCEIVED TO BE THE MAJOR CAUSE OF THE CONTROVERSY. THE SPECIAL COMMITTEE, CENTERING UPON THIS PROBLEM, RECOMMENDED THAT (1) DESTRUCTIVE CRITICISM BETWEEN SCHOOL AND COMMUNITY AGENCIES MUST CEASE, (2) THE CENTRAL ADMINISTRATION, WITH ITS MORE PROFESSIONAL TRAINING, MUST ASSUME FULL RESPONSIBILITY FOR DETERMINING FUNDS NEEDED TO SUPPORT A QUALITY EDUCATION PROGRAM, (3) AN IN-DEPTH STUDY OF DISTRICT NEEDS AND RESOURCES SHOULD BE MADE BY SPECIALISTS, (4) AN ORGANIZED SYSTEM OF INFORMATION DISSEMINATION SHOULD BE ESTABLISHED, (5) WRITTEN POLICIES OF THE BOARD AND THE CENTRAL ADMINISTRATION SHOULD BE REEXAMINED AND SHOULD CLEARLY DELINEATE RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE VARIOUS AGENCIES, (6) A COMMITTEE OF CITIZENS AND OFFICIALS SHOULD EXAMINE RECOMMENDATIONS FOR SCHOOL DISTRICT REORGANIZATION, AND (7) EACH GROUP MUST FULFILL ITS RESPONSIBILITIES AND WORK TO FOSTER GOOD INTERACTION WITH OTHER GROUPS. THE COMMITTEE CONCLUDED THAT KENOSHA CHILDREN WERE RECEIVING ABOVE-AVERAGE EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES. (HM)