Financing Schools in Europe 2014 by EC

Financing Schools in Europe 2014 by EC

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Introduction
Since the onset of the economic crisis in 2008, calls for efficient public spending have intensified.
Against this background of tight public finances, the European Commission has called on Member
States to protect or promote longer term investments in education (1). Nevertheless, today's economic
circumstances can be regarded as an opportunity to reflect on how to build more efficient and
sustainable funding systems for education.
When countries are looking for ways of making reforms, they often look to other countries for
inspiration. This report provides a framework for understanding the structure of funding systems for
public sector school level education in Europe. It also delivers a short comparative analysis of the
authority levels involved, and methods and criteria used for determining the level of resources for
financing school education. It is a starting point for dialogue and peer-learning between countries.
While the funding arrangements implemented in one country may not necessarily work in another,
they may serve as inspiration for reforms, especially for countries sharing similar traditions in public
funding and organisation. However, it must be stressed, as will be described below, that there are
limitations on how far any model can be applied in other contexts.
This report shows an overall picture of great variety across Europe with respect to funding systems.
These systems have developed over many decades to meet the needs of individuals, wider society
and the economy. The changing priorities of education systems have also shaped the way in which
funding systems have developed. While the complexity of funding systems should not be overstated, it
is important to recognise the particular national context when considering policy reforms, as certain
types of reform may work differently in different countries.
Chapter 1 examines the authorities involved with school funding, and more specifically to what extent
regional and local authorities transfer resources from central/top level to schools, and whether they
contribute to the financing of school education using their own revenue, such as local taxes.
Chapter 2 examines what methods central/top-level authorities use for allocating funds, focusing on
whether they use common agreed rules (funding formula), or whether they make allocations on the
basis of an estimation of needs of schools (budgetary approval/discretionary determination).
Chapter 3 examines the criteria involved when establishing the volume of resource allocations. It
analyses both input-based criteria and output- or performance-based criteria.
The report examines the funding of primary and general secondary education and covers 27 of the
28 EU (2) Member States as well as Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Turkey.
Several levels of public authority involved in delivering funding to schools.
Providing a comprehensive overview of the funding process and the specific roles of the various public
authorities involved is a complex task. This complexity arises partly from the idiosyncrasies of the
political and administrative landscape of each country and the way funding responsibilities, in general,
are shared between authorities. Moreover, the resources needed for schools to operate effectively are
very different in nature (i.e. staff, capital goods and operational goods and services). This may go
(1) For example: Annual Growth Survey 2014 {SWD(800) final}.
(2) Luxembourg did not participate to the data collection for this report.