School funding formulae: designed to create a learning society?

The right to education depends upon a willingness to finance
education fairly. Addressing the difference in educational
achievement between learners of different backgrounds is a key
aspect of fairness. Framed by contemporary neoliberal policies around
marketisation and competitiveness, this paper examines fairness in
the education finance policy (EFP) of three jurisdictions in England,
Israel and Oklahoma. Using a comparative analysis of school funding
formulae and an international survey on the perceptions of local
policy actors, the de jure and the de facto EFPs are examined. Our
findings reveal de jure policies attempting to address fairness through
integrating different student background characteristics. However,
variability is evident in the extent to which the de facto policies align
with an aspiration for fairness. This is linked to the marketisation
of education in each jurisdiction. We conclude that weightings of
students’ background characteristics can only be one feature in policy
interventions orientated towards bringing about social equity.