Educational financing and improvement: conceptual issues and policy debates in the UK

Abstract

This paper explores the ways in which education funding questions relate to key policy issues facing contemporary governments. It demonstrates how decisions about the level and distribution of expenditure have different implications for national education systems, institutions and students. Following a general discussion of social investment in education, the paper identifies some specific policy considerations in recent attempts to improve the compulsory and post-compulsory sectors. Drawing in particular on British experience, the impact of decisions about expenditure and funding mechanisms on access and performance is considered. We conclude that funding issues cannot be resolved in purely technical terms, but are contingent upon ideological perspectives about broader economic and social priorities.