School Finance Research Articles

Assessment of Political Influence on Management of Public Secondary Schools in Benue State, Nigeria

This study assessed political influence on management of public secondary schools in Benue State. To achieve the purpose of the study, two research questions guided the study and two hypotheses were tested. Survey research design was adopted for the study. The population of the study is 4228 comprising 304 principals and 3924 teachers from 304 public secondary schools in Benue State. The sample size of 423 out of 4228 principals and teachers in public secondary schools in Benue State representing 10% of the total population. A self-developed structured 24-item questionnaire titled “Political Influence and Management of Public Secondary Schools Questionnaire” (PIMPSSQ) with a reliability coefficient of 0.90. Mean (x) and Standard Deviation were used to answer the four research questions. Meanwhile, the chi-square (c2) test of goodness was used in testing the research hypotheses at 0.05 alpha level of significance. The findings of the study revealed that politics has high influence on funding of public secondary schools in Benue State. The finding also revealed politics high influence on provision of infrastructural facilities of public secondary schools. Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended that funds meant for the smooth running of public secondary schools should be made available and should be well monitored to prevent it from being diverted or embezzled. This can be achieved by putting machinery in place to monitor judicious use/utilization and distribution of funds devoid of politics in order that advantages to end users are expanded. Also, relevant and adequate facilities such as school buildings, classrooms, libraries, laboratories, workshops, teaching and learning materials should be provided and equitably distributed to the various schools at the right time for the achievement of high productivity in educational outcome in schools irrespective of their political connections and recognitions.

КРИТЕРИИ ОЦЕНКИ ЦЕЛЕСООБРАЗНОСТИ ИНВЕСТИЦИОННЫХ ПРОЕКТОВ С ТОЧКИ ЗРЕНИЯ ТЕХНОЛОГИЧЕСКОЙ НЕЗАВИСИМОСТИ

The article provides an expert assessment of the feasibility of developing investment projects in the context of individual areas of the strategy for ensuring technological independence. The expert assessment of various criteria for the feasibility of implementing investment projects in individual investment areas is substantiated. Methods for ensuring technological independence are analyzed. It is proposed to expand budget funding for free school and higher education.

Improvement Strategy in Virtual Education. An experience from Cuba

The complex context through which the pandemic is passing is unknown to no one, the radical changes in the way of life of the human being in general have been dramatic and difficult to face. The educational process in Cuba has not been a factor unrelated to these conditions, and the need to make use of new technologies to transfer said process and impart it in a purely virtual way has been a common challenge. The empirical work aims to develop a training strategy in the didactics of virtual learning environments, an idea agreed between the members of the board of directors of the School of Accounting and Finance. Thus, begins a teaching movement that under the imprint of profound changes in the teaching process, on the one hand, involves the debate of ideas and methods, and, on the other.

Theoretical and Empirical Research on Improving the Quality of Higher Vocational College Enterprise Cooperation Based on PDCA Cycle

The quality of school enterprise cooperation in vocational colleges is one of the important indicators for the quality of teaching practice in vocational colleges. Applying project management methods, technologies, and tools to school enterprise cooperation construction projects has significant advantages, which helps to ensure the quality of school enterprise cooperation construction projects under the “Double High Plan”. In this context, this article takes the construction project of the School of Finance and Economics Cooperation of Chengdu Vocational and Technical College as the research object, applies the PDCA cycle improvement theory of project quality management to the school enterprise cooperation of the School of Finance and Economics, analyzes the problems in the construction of the school enterprise cooperation project of the School of Finance and Economics, and proposes improvement suggestions, in order to explore an effective path for higher vocational colleges in finance and economics to promote the quality improvement of school enterprise cooperation projects.

The Effects and Local Implementation of School Finance Reforms on Teacher Salary, Hiring, and Turnover

Knowing how policy-induced salary schedule changes affect teacher recruitment and retention will significantly advance our understanding of how resources matter for K–12 student learning. This study sheds light on this issue by estimating how legislative funding changes in Washington state in 2018–2019—induced by the McCleary court-ordered reform—affected teacher salaries and labor market outcomes. By embedding a simulated instrumental variables approach in a mixed-methods design, we observed that local collective bargaining negotiations directed new state funding allocations to substantially increase certificated base salaries, particularly for senior teachers with 16 years or more of teaching experience. Variability in political power, priorities, and interests of both districts and unions led to greater heterogeneity in teacher salary schedules. Suggestive evidence shows that state average teacher turnover rate was significantly reduced in the first year of reform. The McCleary-induced salary increase particularly reduces mid-career teachers’ (8–15 years of teaching experience) mobility rate and late-career teachers’ (23+ years of teaching experience) leaving rate. The McCleary-induced base salary increase has mostly null effects on teacher hiring in the first 2 years of implementation.

The Adequacy of K-12 School Funding for English Language Learners: A National Analysis

The Adequacy of K-12 School Funding for English Language Learners: A National Analysis

목적사업비와 합리적 학교회계 운용 간의 관계 분석

This study examined the current status of targeted funding and its relationship with rational school finance operations. Public elementary schools under the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education from 2019 to 2021 were selected as the research subjects and analyzed using a fixed-effects model. First, the scale of targeted funding is continuously expanding, requiring the attention and efforts of municipal education departments. Second, targeted funding have a negative impact on rational school finance operations, increasing the 4th quarter execution and unused budget rates. Additionally, the impact of targeted funding on school finance operations varies by school size. However, all of these factors were found to have negative effects, including concentrated budget execution at the end of the fiscal year and an increase in unused budgets. In conclusion, the study recommends providing incentives to promote the efforts of municipal education departments in reducing targeted funding, securing autonomy for unit schools in the operation of targeted funding, and providing differentiated guidance for unit school budget management based on school size.

가해법인 및 피해법인에 공통된 사실상 대표자의 불법행위로 인한 법인의 손해배상책임 인정여부

This paper is an analysis of the Korean Supreme Court's decision 2020Da9268, pronounced on June 1, 2023. This is a case in which Mr. G, who was in a de facto representative position for both the defendant (offending) entity and the plaintiff (damaged) entity, embezzled money not only from the defendant entity but also from the plaintiff entity through unfair means. The plaintiff entity, which claimed to have suffered damage as part of the money embezzled from the plaintiff entity flowed into the defendant entity, filed a claim against the defendant entity for the return of money based on unjust enrichment or compensation for damages due to tort. Regarding this case, the first and second trials and the Supreme Court differ in their approach to the matter and their resulting conclusions. The first and second trials acknowledged that the entity's tort liability was established based on the representative's illegal acts, but in calculating damages, they denied or limited the amount of damages to 50%. In contrast, the Supreme Court denied liability for damages on the grounds that even if it recognized Mr. G's illegal act, there was no clear basis for recognizing it as an illegal act by the offending entity. Regarding this, the author criticized that the 'de facto representative' principle, the 'limits of the appearance theory' principle, and the 'attribution of recognition' principle, which were formed in the existing precedents of the Supreme Court in relation to the liability of corporations for illegal acts, were rarely or not used in this judgment. To summarize the author's solution, Mr. G can be evaluated as the de facto representative of the offending entity, and his illegal acts, such as embezzlement of school funds, not only constitute his own illegal acts, but can be judged as business-related acts of the (de facto) representative who ostensibly represents the offending entity. However, since Mr. A is in the position of de facto representative of the damaged entity, what he recognizes also belongs to the damaged entity. Since he would have recognized on his own that his illegal act was not related to the duties of the offending entity, his awareness is attributed to that of the damaged entity as well. Therefore, the damaged entity cannot claim compensation from the offending entity.

MANAGEMENT POLICY OF SCHOOL OPERATIONAL ASSISTANCE (BOS) PROGRAM IN INCREASING THE QUALITY OF MADRASAH EDUCATION IN KERINCI DISTRICT

This policy paper reviews the School Operational Assistance Fund, or BOS for short, namely government funding for schools. The BOS funds are a form of the Indonesian government's attention to quality education, but in their management, there are still irregularities. Therefore, this article discusses BOS fund management policies to improve madrasa education and to minimize all forms of fraud and ineffectiveness in its management in Kerinci Regency. So, a strategy is needed to effectively manage BOS funds to improve the quality of madrasa education in Kerinci Regency. This article uses a qualitative writing method with a descriptive analysis approach to obtain relevant data according to the problem that is the object of study, accompanied by secondary data analysis and direct interviews conducted in-depth (in-depth interviews) with seven (seven) heads of Madrasah Ibtidaiyah, Madrasah Tsanawiyah, and Madrasah Aliyah, both public and private. The results of this study show that there is ineffectiveness in the management of BOS funds in Kerinci Regency due to non-compliance with procedures, weak comprehensive monitoring and evaluation, and inadequate public complaint tools for the misappropriation of funds. The Kerinci Regency Ministry of Religious Affairs Office has not yet prepared a public complaint tool for the misappropriation of BOS funds. To ensure that BOS funds are on target, socialization, evaluation, and monitoring are needed both internally and externally by the school. Transparent, accountable, and professional policies are very necessary.

Voices from the edge: Girls' experiences of being at risk of permanent exclusion

AbstractThis paper considers the experiences of education for girls at risk of permanent exclusion from mainstream secondary schools in England. The number of girls being permanently excluded from school is a growing issue, and data suggests that girls are being excluded at a percentage rate which exceeds boys, yet they have continued to receive comparatively little attention, either in policy, research or the media. This study uses ecomapping and semi‐structured interviews to examine the challenges girls face and the resources they use to address or ameliorate them. The paper provides an overview of the data collected, considers how the prevalent challenges reported by girls compare to existing research and suggests a number of approaches which could be taken to support girls. It reflects on girls' lack of visibility and voice in policy and research on school exclusions, how this has continued to affect the services and support available to them, and schools' responses to their behaviour. It concludes by reviewing the recommendations previous studies have advocated to support girls at risk of exclusion and reflects on the progress made towards these, noting how current issues of school funding, teacher recruitment and attrition, performativity and accountability have impacted on the scope of action it is possible for individual schools to take.

Funding High-poverty School Districts: Federal Policy Tools and the Limits of Incentives

Abstract What can the federal government do to help ensure that the public schools attended by children living in poverty have enough resources to serve their students? In this brief, we describe existing federal efforts to support education spending in high-poverty districts, discuss their limitations, and suggest alternative approaches for federal policy. We focus especially on the Education Finance Incentive Grant (EFIG) formula—a part of the compensatory Title I grant program designed to encourage changes to state school finance policy—and show that the incentives embedded in the formula are in fact negligible; revising the formula to be more effective would be difficult. Further, any attempt to incentivize desirable state policy faces a fundamental trade-off: Such policy can reinforce inequality because districts in states that do not respond to the incentives by adopting desirable policies also do not receive (as much) federal funding. We argue that federal policy should be more attentive to state fiscal capacity because it is an important determinant of district-level school spending, and the federal government is uniquely positioned to address between-state inequality.

Family Financial Management Behavior in Housewives (A Phenomenological Review)

Financial management is a person's way of managing their finances, starting from planning, budget design, methods of saving funds, controlling expenses, to risk protection. The goal is to achieve economic stability in the future. This type of research is qualitative research with a phenomenological approach. Data collection techniques using participatory observation, non-participatory observation, interviews and documentation. The results of this research show that the behavior that occurs is that some of the informants have recorded their income and expenses every day, save regularly in the form of saving money, prepare emergency funds, and participate in social gatherings. They consider social gatherings to be part of saving. The most important management of family income is for consumption needs, then for children's school financing needs and social needs.

Auditing public schools' financial records: A study of financial management from the eyes of relevant stakeholders

The demand for proper financial management in schools is dictated by the South African Schools Act 84 of 1996, Section 43(1), according to which public schools must retain a suitably qualified accountant registered in terms of the Public Accountants and Auditors Act, 1991 (Act No.80 of 1991), to audit the school's financial records and statements. This study investigated the schools' financial management stakeholders' experiences of the auditing of public schools' financial records. A qualitative approach was applied in the study. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data from three purposefully selected secondary schools in which principals, chairpersons of the finance committees and finance officers were involved. A case study design was applied. Thematic data analysis was used to analyse the collected data. All the participants demonstrated limited knowledge and understanding of the processes and procedures of auditing financial records, including an inability to interpret the audited financial reports. However, the participants revealed the benefits of audited financial reports, such as trust from parents in how school finances are managed. Furthermore, the audited financial reports enable schools to seek and apply for additional funding from businesses and other organisations, and to be allocated funds from the Department of Basic Education (DBE). This study recommends that the Department of Education should provide stakeholders in financial management with adequate support and training in auditing processes and procedures and interpretation of financial auditing reports.

The oversight functions of school governing bodies in the management of budgets

The South African Schools Act, No. 84 of 1996 (RSA, 1996) heralded a shift in decision-making powers through decentralising school governance from the state to local communities. One of the primary functions of school governing bodies (SGBs) is to manage school finances. It is imperative for SGBs to design and implement irrefutable finance policies that clearly and unambiguously spell out specific structures and processes by applying relevant legislation and regulations enforced by the Ministry of Education. Using a generic qualitative approach within an interpretivist paradigm, this paper accentuates the oversight functions of SGBs to manage budgets effectively and efficiently. This research was grounded in a social constructivist paradigm and data were collected by way of semi-structured interviews and document analysis. Findings revealed that many SGBs place very little importance on the oversight functions of budgets which usually result in the mismanagement of school funds. This is reflected in poor finance policy formulation and implementation, and the absence of operational mechanisms (e.g. budget variance analysis) to curb wasteful and fruitless expenditure. Furthermore, challenges associated with the non-compliance of a finance policy and the failure of SGBs to take timely corrective action exasperate the problems of poor financial management.

IMPLEMENTATION OF BLOCKCHAIN TECHNOLOGY IN SCHOOLS

The purpose of this study was to determine the level of understanding of schools with blockchain technology. The method used in this research is a literature study approach. Data collection through library research. Based on research data, researchers understand that the application of blockchain-based technology in schools plays a very important role because it makes it easier for teachers to teach, makes it easy for students to understand the material with a simple design, and makes teaching more effective and can control students well. Apart from this, blockchain makes it easy for transactions to pay school finances quickly and all data is recorded neatly without having to record it one by one.

ANALISIS TATA KELOLA KEUANGAN SMAIT BUAHATI ISLAMIC SCHOOL JAKARTA BERDASARKAN PERATURAN PEMERINTAH REPUBLIK INDONESIA NOMOR 48 TAHUN 2008

This study aims to understand the process of preparing the School Budget Activity Plan (RKAS), budget realization, preparing financial reports at SMAIT Buahati Islamic School Jakarta, and understanding the financial governance of SMAIT Buahati Islamic School Jakarta. The research method used is qualitative with a descriptive approach. The data collection techniques used are interviews, observation, and documentation. The results showed that the planning process of school financial governance sourced from school fund finances and BOS funds begins with holding a limited meeting with the process of preparing RKAS and RAB, based on the plans needed by the school and the technical instructions for school BOS. The realization of financial governance at SMAIT Buahati Islamic School Jakarta, the principle of efficiency has not been followed properly. The preparation of financial reports is carried out routinely by making an Accountability Sheet (LPJ) for each activity that has been carried out.

Replicating and Digesting Anomalies in the Chinese A-Share Market

We replicate 469 anomaly variables similar to those studied by Hou et al. (2020) using Chinese A-share data and a reliable testing procedure with mainboard breakpoints and value-weighted returns. We find that 83.37% of the anomaly variables do not generate significant high-minus-low quintile raw return spreads. Further adjusting risk increases the failure rate slightly to 84.22% based on CAPM alphas and 86.99% based on Fama–French three-factor alphas. We show that the conventional procedure using all A-share breakpoints with equal-weighted returns for the anomaly test is indeed problematic as it assigns too much weight to microcaps and has a very limited investment capacity. The CH3-factor, CH4-factor, and q-factor models show the best performance over the whole sample period. The q-factor model is the best performer in the post-2007 subsample period after significant improvements occurred in China’s financial market environment, such as the completion of the split-share structure reform and the implementation of new accounting standards conforming to the International Financial Reporting Standards. The non–state-owned enterprise subsample in the post-2007 period is a cleaner sample in which the CH4-factor and q-factor models are the best performers. This paper was accepted by Lukas Schmid, finance. Funding: Z. Li acknowledges financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China [Grant 72103043] and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities in UIBE [Grants 19QN01 and 22PY053-72103043]. L. X. Liu acknowledges financial support from the National Natural Science Foundation of China [Grants 71872006 and 72273006]. L. X. Liu and X. Liu acknowledge financial support from the Guanghua Thought Leadership Platform of Peking University. K. C. J. Wei acknowledges partial financial support from the Research Grants Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China [Grant 15507320]. The authors acknowledge financial support from the Guanghua School of Management, Peking University; the School of Banking and Finance, University of International Business and Economics; and the Non-PAIR Research Centre “Research Centre for Quantitative Finance” at Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Supplemental Material: The online appendix and data are available at https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2023.4904 .

Decision Support System for Poor Student Aid Recipients Using the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) Method

The enforcement of mandatory education programs facilitates funding for primary and secondary schools, aligning with legal provisions designed to boost student engagement. Nevertheless, a stark reality persists, with numerous children unable to attend school, leading to dropouts and an inability to progress. A key factor contributing to this issue is the School Operational Assistance (BOS) not covering essential educational costs like uniforms, books, and shoes. The challenge lies in identifying suitable recipients for Poor Student Aid, hindered by insufficient categorized support data. Addressing this, a targeted solution involves designing a system, utilizing the Analysis Hierarchy Process (AHP) Method. Decisions regarding poor student aid approval would then be grounded in rational, objective considerations. Proactively implementing a structured decision support system is crucial in assigning significance to criteria values and weights, tailored to SD Negeri Baddoka Makassar's needs. Through AHP, the selection process becomes more transparent, measurable, and accountable. The resulting decisions have the potential to enhance the efficiency of providing assistance to those genuinely in need.

Why Are All of the Children Perceived to Be Above Average? Stakeholders and the Lake Wobegon Effect in Attitudes toward Public Schools

AbstractThe Lake Wobegon effect, named for the fictional town where all children are above average, is well documented in surveys about education. Respondents tend to rate their local public schools higher in quality than schools overall in the state or nation, even despite contrary evidence. One potential explanation for this disconnect is a psychological construct known as “illusory superiority.” While the superiority aspect of illusory superiority is well studied, the illusory nature of these attitudes typically is assumed rather than empirically demonstrated. Further, the predictors of these attitudes also merit exploration. We seek to address both of these points. We hypothesize that illusory superiority in the context of attitudes toward public education may be driven in part by self-interest, and thus may be more likely to be found among those with the biggest stake in local schools, such as parents of students, homeowners, and longtime residents. Using survey data from Massachusetts, we find a factual basis for illusory superiority by comparing perceptions of local school performance on standardized tests to actual scores. We also model predictors of illusory superiority, including property ownership, length of residency, and having children enrolled in public schools, and the role that illusory superiority may play in school ratings. We then assess the effects of overstatement of test scores on attitudes toward a key educational issue – whether to increase taxes to provide additional funding for local schools.

School finance centralization and revenue levels: evidence from a school finance reform

ABSTRACT This paper studies whether the centralization of public school finance affects school revenue levels. The theoretical framework indicates that centralization has price and income effects on the pivotal voter’s demand for school revenue, but the overall effect is ambiguous. A public school finance reform in Michigan (U.S. state), which centralized its school finance system by restricting local discretion on school revenue, provides a good policy variation for a quasi-experimental design. Using district-level panel data on school finance in Michigan and neighboring states over the fiscal-year period of 1990–2004, I find that the reform has a negative effect on revenue levels. The sixth year after the reform and onwards, the reform reduces per-pupil revenue by $1,300 on average. The reform reduces revenue levels in both low- and high-revenue districts, but the higher-revenue districts tend to sustain more pronounced reductions.