The local education budget as an issue between the central government and local government (The Israeli case study)

Abstract

This study discusses how the interrelationship between the central government and local government in Israel influences the allocation of education budgets in the local authorities. The main research question was whether there is a gap between the government budget policy in education and the actual implementation of this policy, and if there is indeed such a gap, what factors give rise to its formation and how it affects scholastic achievements.
The theoretical research model is a combination of relevant features of three different models that identify the relationship between central and local government. A conceptual framework was formulated, and transposed into an empirical research structure. This is an exploratory research. Its population is comprised of 36 education department directors in the local authorities in Israel. Thus, this research design sought both objective and subjective data combined cumulatively. The topic for this research was in the national context, therefore it was decided that its outcomes could be applied to the general population.
The research question and sub-questions required a combination of the qualitative research and quantitative research. Therefore, the preferred methods that were included in this research were a triangulation of research tools, such as questionnaires, interviews and archival documents.
The main research findings indicate that the average gap in all the authorities that appeared in the sample amounts to 34.61%. Factors causing the formation of a gap in the implementation of the budgetary policy were the socio-economic strength of the local authority; large local authorities are usually capable of accumulating a greater quantity of alternate resources to those provided by the Ministry of Education, and so the magnitude of the gap in these authorities is greater. Additional primary factors are the differences in perception of the needs between the Ministry of Education and the local authorites, differences of opinion between the two entities as to the task distribution among them, lack of trust between the two systems, political ties between local authority heads and government ministers, particularly with the Minister of Education, which pave the way to larger budgets; lack of transparency in budgeting and no clear definitions in the distribution of funds among the two government strata of the education system within the local authorities. There was no link found between the involvement of the Head of the local authority and/or the holder of the education portfolio in managing the local education system budget, the external and internal supervision and control processes and the magnitude of the gap. A significant finding is the discovery of a link between the extent of the gap and the scholastic achievement level – meaning the greater the gap in budgetary policy implementation, the higher the scholastic achievements.
The research conclusions, based on the empirical evaluation of the conceptual framework, indicate an ambiguous government policy (on the municipal education system level), which aims to achieve momentary peace. Finally, the findings clearly indicate that there exists an interaction of various variables such as the legal environment, the socio-economic factors and the political system, all of which contribute to the situation described and examined in this research. These variables interact with one another and each is influenced by the others. Thus, to understand the complete picture one must look at all the elements involved as components of the same system. This study may serve to evaluate the dramatic reform which was decided upon by Israel's government. Based on the findings of this research, it may be assumed that adoption of the Dovrat Committee recommendations will reduce the spatial inequality and will increase scholastic achievement levels.