School Funding Policy Research Articles

School Funding and Equity in Australia: Critical Moments in the Context of Text Production Phase of the Education Policy Cycle

Education policy has long been analyzed as a cycle where various actors influence different stages. However, few such studies have focused on identifying and interrogating the specific moments that shape an education policy’s overall equity trajectory. This article uses Bowe, Ball, and Gold’s policy cycle as an exploratory theoretical framework, focusing on the historic Review of Funding for Schooling (2011) in Australia, which evaluated the nation’s school funding policy. The authors concentrate on the Context of Text Production phase of its policymaking process, and consider the implications for equity. From this work, the authors highlight two “critical moments” that they argue significantly influenced how the appointed panel approached equity. Their theorizing of a “critical moment” offers valuable insights for researchers and stakeholders seeking to understand or influence education policy.

Critical school finance: special volume commentary

ABSTRACT This collection of papers in this special volume explains how school funding policies and community policies perpetuate racial and socioeconomic inequities in the United States, Canada, and Australia. These papers highlight two important research themes in school finance that have been missing: (a) the role that race plays in creating enduring educational funding disparities and by extension school facilities; and (b) the danger that privatisation poses for meeting the resource needs of less affluent and minoritised communities. This commentary explains how these papers contribute to the burgeoning field of critical school finance.

Tensions undermining equitable school funding: insights from Australia

ABSTRACT School funding policy in Australia not only promotes educational equity in some ways but also creates substantial between-school resource inequalities due to its embrace of market ideologies. School funding policies are designed to promote school choice and competition, based on the assumption that they are both a right and an effective lever for improving educational outcomes. School funding is used to create an educational marketplace with varying ‘price points’, leading to the acceptance of a two-tiered system of basic provision via the public sector and enhanced provision for those willing to pay via the private sector. Political commitment to making school funding more equitable has been largely absent. Marketisation is the mechanism by which schooling maintains its capacity to reproduce social inequality without evoking class-based discourse or anxiety.

Paper Trails: Exposing Racism in the History of School Finance

AbstractHow can we better situate resource inequities between schools in the longer history of racial oppression and discrimination in the United States? This article provides both a historiographical panorama of the field on a range of topics related to school finance and a roadmap of archival and research paths. It seeks to sketch out the contours of a burgeoning field to show that historians of school finance have the potential to make racial dispossession a central tenet of their analyses. First, I lay out a longer timeline for the periodization of school finance history than most of the previous scholarship has adopted to recast school funding inequality within the racialized context of land and capital dispossession. Second, I situate school finance more explicitly in US political history, showing how the study of school funding policies can illuminate major historiographical debates such as the history of tax revolts, federalism, local governance, and the development of US capitalism. Finally, I chart some of the directions historians can follow to study a wider array of school finance policies beyond the surface of state school funding formulae to make the role of policymakers at all levels of education policy more visible, and to further ground school finance developments in their racial contexts.

The spatiality of economic maldistribution in public-school funding in Australia: still a poisonous debate

ABSTRACT This paper analyses the composition, distribution, and history of school funding in Australia through a spatial lens (Soja 2010). We explore multi-scalar school funding policy through three layers of economic maldistribution. We sketch the funding disparities between the three school sectors (public, Catholic, and independent) exposing a spatial injustice in policies of school choice; the spatial and economic maldistribution between state jurisdictions; and the economic maldistribution within state public systems, including the ability of their school communities to contribute funds. Spatial injustice is uncovered in economic maldistribution within and across these policy layers, adding nuance to existing school funding debates. The Australian case is relevant to international explorations of school funding as an example of ‘unjust practice’ in the hierarchies between schools across sectors, between jurisdictions, and within systems of public education.

Are Friends of Schools the Enemies of Equity? The Interplay of Public School Funding Policies and Private External Fundraising

Are Friends of Schools the Enemies of Equity? The Interplay of Public School Funding Policies and Private External Fundraising

Using Critical Policy Historiography in Education Policy Analysis: A South African Case Study

This article foregrounds the value of using “critical policy historiography” as an analytical/methodological tool in undertaking policy formulation research, highlighting the importance of taking a long-term historical perspective. Using school-funding policies in South Africa as a case study, it argues that while there was wide consultation with stakeholders, power dynamics within the policymaking process underscore the influence of policy elites, such as experts and powerful lobby groups, in shaping policy outcomes. In particular, it critiques the foundational moment of school-funding policymaking in the democratic era, that is, the South African Schools Act of 1996, focusing on key actors that shaped the Act, and whose interests were ultimately served. The article then reviews changes made to school-funding policies to date, and, building on the work of Salim Vally and others, argues for a policymaking framework that strengthens the influence of poor and marginalised communities on policy outcomes if the education social justice project in South Africa is to be advanced.

School funding in Australia: A critical policy analysis of school sector influence in the processes of policy production

The distribution of government funding for schooling can lead to significant differences in educational opportunities and outcomes for students. Unsurprisingly, school funding policy has been a site of intense political and public debate in many countries. In Australia, the Public, Catholic, and Independent school sectors, which collectively make up the Australian education system, all receive government funding. This article examines the representation and influence of the three school sectors at key moments in the policymaking cycle of the Review of Funding for Schooling, a pivotal 2011 report that shaped the trajectory of school funding policy in Australia. This case study focused on the report's development and found a disproportional representation of the Independent and Catholic school sectors at key points in the Review's policy cycle. In light of this critique, the article includes recommendations for more equitable policymaking processes in the future.

An Investigation to Explain Structural Racism Associated with Michigan Public Charter Districts Funding Effort

The research objective is to explain evidence of structural racism, inequity, and inadequacy in the Michigan public school finance system related to the education of Black students or Black descendants of captive and enslaved Africans. This analysis stems from ongoing research that integrates transformative paradigms, critical race theory, and school funding fairness to explain systemic racism associated with public school funding policy, practice, and educational disparities. The Constitution of the State of Michigan of 1963, Article 9, Sections 3, 5, 8, 11, and 36 (commonly known as Public Act 145 of 1993 or Proposal A), Michigan’s school funding policy, sought to decrease local property taxes and rid the system of funding inequalities across school districts. The legislation’s intention was to achieve four basic goals: (1) reduce property tax burdens; (2) reduce per pupil funding disparities; (3) limit annual increases in property tax assessments and (4) increase site control over local school district finances. As a result, Proposal A (1993) eliminated local school property taxes due to public outcry regarding increasing rates, resulting in a reduction of nearly $7 billion in funding for Michigan’s public schools, beginning in the 1994–95 school year. Proposal A sought to improve the equalization and equity in funding across school districts. This examination uses the lens of critical race theory (CRT) to analyze Michigan’s Proposal A to understand better the unique interplay among the political, economic, and ideological forces influencing public school finance. CRT explains the inherent inequities due to racial, ethnic, and class lines deeply inserted in U.S. society and the public school system. This investigation presents quantitative evidence from Michigan public school data showing that Black students who receive free and reduced lunch (FRL) are overrepresented in charter districts in Michigan. Although students in these schools require greater resources than their peers to achieve similar academic outcomes, Michigan’s charter districts receive less revenue from state and local sources. As a result, Michigan’s charter financing system reinforces racial and socioeconomic inequality by providing less per-pupil funding to Black and FRL students.

School governance and funding policy in South Africa: Towards social justice and equity in education policy

Equity and redress, in and through education, are fundamental commitments of the new South African democratic government that ensued in 1994 after a brutal and protracted history of colonial and apartheid segregation and oppression denied the majority black population the fundamental right to equitable and quality education. A raft of ambitious and far-reaching policies were put in place to achieve these laudable goals. Yet more than 26 years after the ending of colonial and apartheid rule, the South African education system, and society in general, remain, far from equal – made apparent by the current COVID-19 pandemic. In this paper we take a critical (re)look at South African education governance and funding policies, considering why the South African Schools Acts (SASA) and the National Norms and Standards for School Funding (NNSSF), first promulgated in 1997 and 1998 and subsequently amended, have not delivered as expected on the promises of equity, redistribution and redress. The paper advances conceptual flaws, operational failures and implementation naivety as to why these promises have not been realised, advocating for an alternative social justice model for school governance and funding.

The effective and efficient management of school fees: Implications for the provision of quality education

The Amended National Norms and Standards for School Funding (ANNSSF) policy of 2006 introduced a funding model to address equity in public schooling. Schools are ranked into one of five quintiles of which quintile 1 represents the poorest schools and quintile 5 the most affluent. The ANNSSF policy proposes that the state provide more funding for recurrent resources to poorer schools (quintiles 1, 2 and 3) than to quintiles 4 and 5 schools. Since affluent schools receive reduced state funding, school governing bodies (SGBs) are obliged to supplement state funding if they wish to continue providing quality education and improving learner achievement. Although intensive fundraising initiatives and sponsorships are viable solutions, the declining South African economy has prompted corporates to apply austerity measures such as limiting sponsorships to schools. Thus, SGBs are compelled to charge parents school fees as a means of supplementing state subsidies. In the study reported on here, qualitative research with an interpretivist paradigm to explore how SGBs manage school fees to sustain the provision of quality education was used. The findings reveal that, if school fees are effectively and efficiently managed, SGBs can continue employing additional staff above the post provisioning norms, reduce class sizes and procure state-of-the-art resources, resulting in high learner achievement.

Narrowing the achievement gap of Grade 12 in no-fee schools in Gauteng using pro-poor funding

Since the advent of democracy in 1994, access to quality and equitable education still remains a challenge in the Gauteng province. As an intervention to improve access and quality of learning in all schools, especially township schools, the Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) declared schools across Quintiles 1 to 3 throughout the province to be no-fee schools. In this article we examine various GDE pro-poor intervention programmes, the effects of a progressive school funding policy, and efforts to achieving equity through improved resource allocations. It is essential to assess the progress of the GDE’s explicit pro-poor education policies towards promoting equity and equality in education, with particular focus on the performance of Grade 12 learners in no-fee schools. One of the findings of the study reported on here reveals that, although the GDE faced challenges in implementing the no-fee policy at school level, there has been progressive improvements in the standard of education as reflected in the Grade 12 results of no-fee schools.

Funding inclusive education for equity and social justice in South African schools

The implementation of inclusive education in South African schools has resulted in more demands being placed on them to make provision for the inclusion of learners with special educational needs in mainstream classrooms. This has brought about substantial changes regarding school financing in order to cater for a diverse learner population. This generic qualitative study conducted through interviews with 9 secondary school principals from formerly disadvantaged and advantaged schools, as well as policy document analysis, investigated the current school financing practices for inclusive education in schools aimed at attaining equity and social justice. During this study data were analysed using inductive content analysis. The findings of the study suggest that although provision has been made in terms of the National Norms and Standards for School Funding policy, schools, especially those in previously disadvantaged communities, are not adequately and suitably resourced to implement inclusive education fully.

O FINANCIAMENTO DO ENSINO MÉDIO EM CONTEXTO FEDERATIVO: O CASO DO ESTADO DE MATO GROSSO DO SUL DE 2007 A 2018

O artigo verificou a política de financiamento para o ensino médio na rede estadual de ensino de Mato Grosso do Sul, na vigência do Fundo de Manutenção e Desenvolvimento da Educação Básica e de Valorização dos Profissionais da Educação (Fundeb), no período de 2007 a 2018, em contexto federativo. Trabalhou-se com dados de Secretarias de Estado, com a legislação educacional, material da imprensa e do movimento sindical docente. Observou-se que os recursos do Fundeb foram gastos, em sua totalidade, com a folha de pagamento docente. A conjuntura de austeridade fiscal iniciada com a aprovação da Emenda Constitucional n. 95/2016 tem colocado em risco tanto o Fundeb quanto os demais direitos educacionais postos pela recente legislação do setor.

College Readiness for English Language Learners (ELLs) in California: Assessing Equity for ELLs under the Local Control Funding Formula

ABSTRACTEnglish Learners (ELs) represent critical mass of K-12 students in public schools across the nation. However, states have failed to improve EL student academic outcomes, including college readiness. In 2013, California altered its school funding policy, providing additional support for English learners. Drawing on Vertical Equity and a Critical Community Strength Framework, this study examines the impact of local funding on college readiness among EL students by analyzing accountability plans and secondary data of 13 districts and assessing reforms using markers of college readiness. Document analysis shows: 1) school districts’ prioritization, 2) resource allocation based on those priorities, and 3) different approaches to operationalizing the construct of equity. Secondary data analysis reveals EL students lagged behind peers in performance on state assessments and enrollment in college preparatory and Advanced Placement varied across districts. These data confirm the critical need for intervention and targeted investment to raise overall college readiness rates among EL students in California and have national implications for states with growing Latino and EL student populations.

Praxis Makes Preference: Grassroot governance of school funding in rural China with evidence from a northeast county

In China’s latest school funding reform, the central government remarkably increases input in basic education. However, this fiscal re-centralisation of education provision is implemented through a highly decentralised administration structure and yet local governments have long been criticised by the public for their inefficiency and misconduct. This paper depicts a snapshot of how school funding policies are practiced in rural China at grassroot government levels. It also discusses the implication of such praxis, drawing on the concept of equity underpinning Australia’s recent review on school funding. Selecting Shandong Province as a case study, this paper firstly analyses publicly accessible online documents on funding policies, released by the state, provincial, prefecture and county governments, to map out the procedures and models of school funding in rural areas. The second set of data was collected through interviews and focus groups with officials from local education authorities and school principals, so as to create a real-life portrait of policy implementation. This empirical study discovers that waste of resource coexists with insufficient funding: biased funding reinforces school hierarchy, improper means are employed to identify students with financial needs, disabled children have strikingly limited access to education, and students with learning difficulties are largely ignored. This paper argues these deficiencies can be explained by local governments’ operational preference. In short, local governments’ active involvement in school funding process may have aggravated inequity.Â

Does Additional Spending Help Urban Schools? An Evaluation Using Boundary Discontinuities

This study exploits spatial anomalies in school funding policy in England to provide new evidence on the impact of resources on student achievement in urban areas. Anomalies arise because the funding allocated to Local Education Authorities (LEA) depends, through a funding formula, on the ‘additional educational needs’ of its population and prices in the district. However, the money each school receives from its LEA is not necessarily related to the school’s own specific local conditions and constraints. This implies that neighbouring schools with similar intakes, operating in the same labour market, facing similar prices, but in different LEAs, can receive very different incomes. We find that these funding disparities give rise to sizeable differences in pupil attainment in national tests at the end of primary school, showing that school resources have an important role to play in improving educational attainment, especially for lower socio-economic groups. The design is geographical boundary discontinuity design which compares neighbouring schools, matched on a proxy for additional educational needs of its students (free school meal entitlement – FSM), in adjacent districts. The key identification requirement is one of conditional ignorability of the level of LEA grant, where conditioning is on geographical location of schools and their proportion of FSM children.

The role of governing bodies in the management of financial resources in South African no-fee public schools

The National Norms and Standards for School Funding policy was adopted by the government to address equity in South African public schools. This pro-poor funding policy compels the state to progressively fund schools based on a quintile ranking system. Schools lacking in infrastructure, physical and financial resources and usually located within poor socio-economic environments are ranked quintiles 1 and 2. These schools are referred to as no-fee schools and are provided with far more state funding than well-resourced schools, ranked quintiles 4 and 5. More recently, quintile 3 schools, serving middle-of-the-range communities, have also been declared no-fee schools. Most of the school governing bodies and principals serving no-fee schools experience numerous challenges in effectively managing their schools’ funds. Using a quantitative research approach, the study aimed to determine the views of teachers and school management team members of how no-fee schools manage the funds received from the state and other fundraising initiatives. The findings revealed that governing bodies of no-fee schools lacked the necessary financial and entrepreneurial skills and, therefore, experienced great difficulty in preparing budgets and cash flow projection statements that could enable them to effectively manage the schools’ funds.

The management of user fees and other fundraising initiatives in self-managing public schools

In view of redressing past imbalances created by the apartheid regime and achieving equity in funding public schools, the post-1994 government introduced the Norms and Standards for School Funding policy that severely reduces state funding to schools located within affluent areas. However, the South African Schools Act, No. 84 of 1996 makes provision for school governing bodies (SGBs), responsible for financial and physical resource management of schools, to supplement state funding. In order to ensure that effective teaching and learning takes place, self-managed SGBs secure funding from parents, corporates and the broader community through school (user) fees, donations and unconventional fundraising projects. These additional funds enable SGBs to provide schools with state-of-the-art physical resources, and to employ teaching and non-teaching staff not provided for in the post-provisioning norms determined by the department of education. Using quantitative research, this study aimed to determine how self-managed SGBs manage funds through user fees and other fundraising initiatives. Findings revealed that governing bodies of most self-managed schools were able to secure substantial funding from school fees and other fundraising initiatives, and managed the funds effectively and efficiently. Keywords: financial management; norms and standards; quintiles; resource management; school fees; school funding; self-management

The perceptions of stakeholders of the implementation of a state funding model in South African public schools

ABSTRACTThe government has made great strides in redressing past imbalances in education through the National Norms and Standards for School Funding (NNSSF) policy that focuses on equity in school funding. This NNSSF model compels the state to fund public schools according to a poverty quintile system, where poor schools are allocated much more funding for resources than affluent schools. Using qualitative research, school management teams, school governing bodies and principals of six public schools located within the Gauteng West District were interviewed to determine their views of how the NNSSF policy had been implemented. One of the findings revealed that equity in public schools has not been fully achieved since funding provided by the state is insufficient to address the backlog in educational resources. It is recommended that the state abandons the policy of funding schools according to quintile rankings but instead, fund schools based on resource needs.