چکیده (انگلیسی):

This article explores the formula-based school funding system in the state of Victoria, Australia,
where state funds are directly allocated to schools based on a range of equity measures. The
impact of Victoria’s funding system for education in terms of alleviating inequality and
disadvantage is contentious, to say the least. It is difficult to adopt the belief that equity funding
can alter the unequal levels of capacity that pupils bring into the classroom as a result of their
varied socio-economic backgrounds. This study highlights a number of contextual factors that
challenge the equity considerations of the Victorian school funding system. Among these factors
include: the ability of individual schools to raise their own funds; allocation of a significant
proportion of formula funding for staff salaries without directly addressing educational
disadvantages; and the unnecessary complexity of formulas and limited community access to
funding information. Nevertheless, the formula-based school funding system in Victoria presents
a model in which funding is tied directly to the needs of both students and schools; a uniform
criteria to apply impartially to each school; an increased level of accessible information on how
the funds have been deployed; a reduced level of complexity presented compared to overlapping
funding models from state, district and local authorities in other jurisdictions; and an
opportunity for meaningful analysis generated on the school level to explore the impact of
funding and incorporate improvements in a single funding system.