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We are celebrating the 10-year anniversary of Debats d’Educació by giving the educational community the opportunity to air its views

Henry Levin
Henry Levin
William H. Kilpatrick Professor of Economics and Education at Teachers College, Columbia University

Henry M. Levin is a specialist in the economics of education.  He is the William H. Kilpatrick Professor of Economics and Education at Teachers College, Columbia University.

The three things I’ve learned

Methods of financing education have a profound influence on both the shape of education and its results.
Topic:
How will education be financed in the future?
1

Educational Finance in the Future

Historically, most countries financed their educational systems with public resources, although families and religious organizations could use their resources for private education. Today we are moving rapidly towards a much more diverse system of educational finance where public and private sources are funding education at both institutional and student levels.  Three reasons explain this trend:  inadequate public resources for school expansion; dissatisfaction with public systems of education; and new forms of education competing with traditional schools.

2

New Systems of Finance

New systems of finance tend to emphasize greater autonomy and flexibility of educational arrangements.  Of particular interest are systems that use educational vouchers that are partially funded by public authorities, but supplemented with private institutional or family resources.  It is argued that this approach increases both efficiency and effectiveness of education as well as equity.

3

Evaluation of New Systems of Finance

Because of the profound influence of the international comparisons of education according to test scores, this criterion is typically used for assessment.  Such a criterion does not take account of other purposes of school such as equity of treatment and outcomes, important outcomes other than test scores (e.g. adaptability, creativity, social cohesion).

Understanding the consequences of new systems of financing education will require far more comprehensive systems of evaluation.

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