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New Labour and School‐based Education in England: Changing the system of funding?
Author(s) -
West Anne,
Pennell Hazel,
West Robert
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
british educational research journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.171
H-Index - 89
eISSN - 1469-3518
pISSN - 0141-1926
DOI - 10.1080/01411920050122345
Subject(s) - disadvantage , government (linguistics) , poverty , context (archaeology) , educational attainment , order (exchange) , quality (philosophy) , school system , compulsory education , economics , economic growth , business , public economics , sociology , political science , finance , pedagogy , law , paleontology , epistemology , biology , philosophy , linguistics
This article focuses on the financing of school‐based education and the ways in which this has changed since the Labour Government was elected into office in May 1997. It also analyses fundamental problems associated with the current system and how these might be rectified. The main conclusions are that although the Labour Government has made clear efforts to target money on areas with high levels of poverty, the system by which most funds for education are allocated, via local authorities, is fundamentally flawed. In order to make informed, evidence‐based judgements about how much money is needed for education, high quality research needs to be carried out. This should establish the resources needed to enable children with different levels of prior attainment to meet specified educational goals in the context of different levels of disadvantage in schools. Only then can the Government be sure that adequate funds are being targeted where they are most needed.