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6 School Law Bulletin Win[er iyy� Table 1 State Aid for School Construction, 1954 to 1993, by Source (Amounts in Millions of Dollars) Earmarked Portion Actual of Public Spending State Local Sales School Critical for Aid as a Taxes Building School Total School Percentage Fiscal Capital Needs State Capital of Year 1983 tax 1986 tax Fund Fund Aid Outlay Spending 1983-84 $ 8.3 - - - $ 8.3 $ 75.8 11.0% 1984-85 38.3 - - - 38.3 127.2 30.1 1985-86 44.4 - - - 44.4 151.5 29.3 1986-87 48.5 $ 27.7 - - 76.2 203.8 37.4 1987-88 52.2 78.2 $ 82.3 $119.9 332.5 230.9 144.0 1988-89 46.0 89.1 70.2 - 205.3 338.4 60.7 1989-90 47.1 93.7 48.3 10.0 199.1 417.8 47.7 1990-91 47.7 96.0 35.3 10.0 189.0 540.3 35.0 1991-92 48.4 98.1 32.6 9.9 189.0 496.0 38.1 1992-93 51.2 103.6 36.3 16.0 207.1 433.6 47.8 Totals $432.1 $586.3 $304.9 $165.7 $1,489.2 $3,015.4 49.4% (Figures may not add up because of rounding.) Source:North Carolina Department of State Treasurer,Report on County Spending for Public School Capital Outlay(Ra- leigh,N.C.: Department of State Treasurer,Feb. 15, 1994,and previous years). 1.How Does State Aid Compare with Reported Between 1984 and 1988, when statewide reported Needs? During the eight-year period 1986 to 1993, needs increased 46 percent, needs increased 50 percent state aid for the 100 counties averaged 81 percent of or more in 54 counties, more than doubled in 32 of needs reported in 1984, though most counties received those counties, and more than tripled in 11 of those aid equal to 80 percent or less of reported needs. Com- counties. As a result, although state aid to counties dur- paring state aid with reported needs, 78 counties re- ing the five-year period 1989 to 1993 was almost ceived funds amounting to at least 50 percent of needs, double the amount of state aid received during the pre- 39 counties received funds amounting to at least 80 vious five-year period, on average state aid equaled percent of needs, and 20 counties received an amount only 32 percent of ten-year needs reported in 1988. exceeding reported needs. (See Figure 4.) We can extrapolate state aid to the entire ten-year Aid was low relative to needs in some counties period 1989 to 1998 by assuming that from 199.1 to because their reported needs were high, as indicated by 1998 each county will have received only the same reported needs per student. In the 22 counties where amount of state aid, excluding critical needs funds. that state aid was less than half of reported needs, average it received in 1993. Using this very conservati%e reported needs per student were almost 50 percent method, which assumes no growth in sales tax revenue higher than the statewide average, and in 5 counties or school facilities funds, during the ten years from where state aid was less than 30 percent of reported 1989 to 1998 state aid on average will have equaled 54 needs the average amount of needs per student was percent of the ten-year needs reported in 1988, and 46 double the statewide average." counties will have received state aid amounting to half or more of the ten-year needs reported in 1988. As be- fore, the variation is due mainly to the large variation in 1988 reported needs. which ranged from 5788 to 17.The variation in reported needs per student does not appear to be $15,098 per student. related strongly to either enrollment size or per capita income--counties with small enrollments and low income tended to have higher needs per Thus earmarked state aid represented a substantial student than others.but the correlation was weak. portion of 1988 reported needs, despite the escalation