Interrogating Social Justice Paradigms in School Finance Research and Litigation

The search for equitable educational opportunities has lead school finance reformers toward solutions conceptualized largely through distributive social justice. Inhibiting justice in this manner produces discouraging localized results despite continued educational funding policy reform. This article expands school finance literature by critically analyzing how the educational research community has justified undertaking school finance research, discretely focusing on the manner in which researchers have defined and applied the prevailing framework of justice. Finally, this research synthesis outlines innovative inquiry that attempts to resolve social justice ideological conflict within school finance research.