Degree Name

Education Specialist (EdS)

Semester of Degree Completion

1989

Thesis Director

David E. Bartz

Abstract

This field experience investigated the effects of farmland reassessment on nineteen rural schools in Illinois. These schools received fifty percent or more of their Equalized Assessed Valuation (EAV) from farmland assessment. The study demonstrated the effects of the Farmland Assessment Act of 1981 on rural schools and the perceptions of the superintendents of those schools as to the major effects of the law. The study compares data from the year before the Farmland Assessment Act of 1981 with the data for the latest year available. An analysis of the EAV for every school in the study indicated that farmland reassessment has negatively effected rural schools in Illinois. An analysis of the number of teachers in 1981-82 and 1987-88 indicated that a reduction of teachers has occurred since 1981. An analysis of the superintendents' surveys indicated that class offerings have declined since 1981. Superintendents' perceptions indicated that financial problems, due in large part to farmland reassessment, are major causes of decreases in teachers and class offerings.

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