Article by James P. Gifford and Frank J. Macchiarola
Municipal overburden is a much-debated concept among professionals concerned with school finance reform. Whether it exists, if it can be measured, and whether anything should be done about it—all are issues which have generated considerable contention. After one particularly acrimonious discussion, a staff economist on a school finance commission challenged a lawyer to send him a photograph of municipal overburden. The challenge was half jest and half venom, not an uncommon mixture in school finance reform circles. School finance reform is an elusive subject which is in constant flux. To extend the metaphor: if one wished to photograph school finance reform, one would need a motion picture camera and an immense amount of film and patience.
About the Author
James P. Gifford. A.B. 1963, Hamilton College; Ph.D. 1970, Columbia University. Legislative Representative of the Board of Education of the City of New York.
Frank J. Macchiarola. B.A. 1962, St. Francis College; LL.B. 1965, Columbia University; Ph.D. 1970, Columbia University. Chancellor of the New York City Public Schools. Member of the New York State Bar, the Federal Bar and the Bar of the United States Supreme Court.
Citation
55 Tul. L. Rev. 716 (1981)