Education Finance: Current Canadian Issues

Citation

Dimmock, C. (1999), "Education Finance: Current Canadian Issues", Journal of Educational Administration, Vol. 37 No. 4, pp. 219-222. https://doi.org/10.1108/jea.1999.37.4.219.1

Although this book focuses exclusively on Canada in terms of its data and cases, the issues raised are of wide relevance for educators in most western democracies currently facing declining public revenues and cost cutting, and driven by balanced budgets. The Editor, Jack Lam, attributes the impetus for the book to three sources: first, the lack of an exclusively Canadian text in education finance; second, the realisation that school reform efforts inevitably involve financial considerations; and thirdly, the general lack of knowledge among educators of financial matters, a state of ignorance which renders them vulnerable to attack from politicians and bureaucrats who want to reduce educational expenditures.

The book is organised in two parts: the first imparts a broad picture of the current Canadian status of educational finance, and focuses on the problems and issues that are currently facing schools and school systems, while the second turns its attention to possible solutions and prospects. Each of the 11 chapters is a succinct ten pages or thereabouts.

In chapter 1, a background and overview to the last 25 years of Canadian educational expenditure is given. The author, Franµois Gendron, defines the purpose of the chapter as to throw light on the major trends affecting education costs and to compare Canada′s investment in education with that of other OECD countries. I found this an intriguing chapter, mainly because the author reveals how the complexity of the measures used to gauge expenditures can give different messages. For example, total expenditure on school education as a proportion of GDP decreased from 5.5 percent in 1970 to 4.6 percent in 1995, while the average level of resources allocated to education for each student relative to the economy′s capacity to pay as measured by GDP per capita, increased from 21 percent to 26 percent during the same period. Canada has, with Sweden, achieved one of the highest per capita expenditures on education in the world, and as enrolments have declined, educational expenditures have been prevented from falling pro rata by statutes and legislation protecting teaching jobs and by a scattered student population over a wide geographical area. The conclusion is that decreased spending on education as a proportion of GDP from 1970‐1995 is entirely attributable to the significant decline in the school‐age population.

Chapter 2 focuses on the effects of reduced federal transfers to the provinces and the knock‐on effects these cuts have on the provinces and their universities and higher education sectors. The outcome is predicted that it will force greater efficiencies among higher education institutes and even among neighbouring provinces who might be driven into closer cooperation and less duplication of programs.

A rather different approach is taken in chapter 3, which describes a number of specific legislative acts undertaken by the Manitoba Government in order to control the financial pressures. As Lam, the author, points out, these acts served to increase the managerial power of the bureaucrats and politicians at provincial level and to decrease that of the schools and school districts. Their power is also squeezed from the grassroots direction, as parents are given more choice, and clear guidelines in collective bargaining are imposed to contain teacher organisations in their salary demands. The inescapable conclusion is that school reform and the funding of higher education are inextricably entangled in the changing balance of financing education taking place between the federal and provincial governments.

In a short but succinct and provocative chapter 4, the author, Jefferson enunciates the various justifications for decentralization of school systems, ranging from the fiscal and administrative, to the structural and programmatic. In a nice twist at the end, she begs the question as to whether decentralization in a context of financial constraint will have the opposite effect to that intended, namely, schools will tend to move towards the norm of provision rather than cater to the needs of an ever‐diversifying, multi‐cultural clientele.

Chapter 5 provides a wealth of detailed facts about the marginalization of aboriginal Canadians and their struggle to gain a fair share of the educational dollar. The author ends on an optimistic note, hoping that decentralization may offer opportunities for self‐control and self‐government.

At the end of part one, I was left with feelings of two somewhat contradictory but simultaneous trends reported by different authors. On the one hand, federal fiscal cutbacks are placing more responsibilities on the provinces and tending to centralize and empower them rather than the schools and districts. On the other hand, a number of authors pursue the decentralization trend and assume that power will come down to the school and to the local community. Such ambivalence mirrors the complexity of re‐configuring power and influence relationships in times of budgetary constraint.

Part two begins with chapter 6, which argues that political leaders at federal and provincial levels tend to lose sight of the special nature and claims that education has, and to view it as just another public service to be cut. They fail to see it as an investment in human capital, and the key role it plays in both national economies and local and rural communities. The existence of an individual school, for example, and its effects on a small local community can be critical to keeping the local economy and society viable.

In chapter 7, Stephen Lawton writes about the tensions between achieving equity, adaptability and efficiency. He structures his material around three criteria for judging the success of a funding system: revenue, expenditure and allocation. These three are linked through the vision of education which translates public policy into public service. And, says Lawton, many are now doubting the prevailing post‐war visions of education. In “times of drought”, says Lawton, “the animals at the trough look at each other differently”.

Thus interpretations of equity change as groups look at each other′s share of resources with envy. The way out of this mire, Lawton argues, is to re‐shape the revenue factor and he proposes three changes to the taxation system which together strike an imaginative and creative solution to the dwindling resources problem.

Along similar lines, chapter 9 explores the partnerships increasingly being forged between school and business as a source of additional school revenue. There are, however, some important pros and cons to such partnerships, which come with “strings attached”. Moral and ethical considerations make for some tough choices for education leaders and these are aired.

Two of the most interesting chapters from this reviewer′s perspective are the final chapters 10 and 11. I share the sentiments of Novak in chapter 10, on technology, that “the true value of technology lies in how it can solve educational problems, by enabling educators to deliver a more relevant program which focuses on the needs of learners”. The chapter goes on to explore technology from the vantage point of program delivery, focusing on accessibility to instruction and information, education within diverse classrooms, adaptation to curricular changes and development of more cost‐effective approaches. Exciting developments in accessing teaching/learning resources at a distance are reported, as are the opportunities for individualising the curriculum for diverse student groups, and for new conceptions of the curriculum, such as developmentally‐paced learning and a more information‐rich, problem‐based, skills curriculum. I appreciated the message from this chapter that while technology is resource‐hungry in terms of capital outlays, it can be resource efficient in overcoming the problems associated with policy contexts of balanced budgets and spending cuts.

Finally, in chapter 11, the Renihans present a refreshing look at some recent work on leadership, placing it in the context of financial constraint. Their theme is “leading with less”. Faced with growing public expectations of education and dwindling public resources, leaders are cast into an arena which places a premium on new and imaginative conceptions of leadership. In view of my own current research interests I particularly agree with their perspective that leaders need to understand that different contexts and cultures require different leadership responses. They advocate five strategies for leaders in times of financial constraint, namely: self‐reflection; repositioning the language of the organization; developing leadership potential throughout the organization; nurturing creativity; and enhancing the capacity of policymakers to support change.

While at first glance this rather small, concise book may appear angled at a limited audience ‐‐ that is, Canadian educators interested in the finance of their country′s education systems ‐‐ the reality is that there is much of relevance for the international reader and for those whose concerns extend beyond finance. The book is rich in its range of ideas and provides a useful source book for students and academics who often seek international experiences within which to frame their own work. It deserves therefore to be read by educators from all sectors who are interested and concerned about the future directions of public education in their respective countries, and who want a practical, realistic yet refreshing perspective on education and its resource context.