David G. Sciarra, Koren L. Bell And Susan Kenyon, 2006. In the last twenty years, courts throughout the country have entertained claims relating to disparities in school funding. Early school finance suits sought to equalize inputs in terms of per pupil or overall expenditures. More recently, the advent of rigorous state accountability plans and the federal No Child Left Behind Act has pushed the question of the resources and conditions necessary for all students to achieve at high levels to the fore. Advocates argue “If the states are making schools and students accountable, then surely the states have a reciprocal duty to make certain that the students have an opportunity to learn....” Accordingly, school finance suits have shifted away from equality of inputs and toward the adequacy (or lack thereof), of public education.
