In November 2021, The National Audit Office published a report on financial sustainability of schools noting that schools had experienced considerable financial pressures in recent years. The NAO report found that while most schools were financially sustainable, local authority (LA) maintained schools were more likely to be experiencing cost…

In this paper I argue that in the aftermath of the Global Financial Crisis of 2008-2009 young people, certain populations of young people in particular, are being made to bear a heavy burden, carry significant responsibilities for re-imagining their lives as a enterprise--an enterprise in which an "investment" in education and training…

The accountants Grant Thornton (GT) do a welcome and nice piece of pro bono work by analysing the annual accounts of the UK's 160 (sic) HEIs and compiling a report on "The Financial Health of the Higher Education Sector"--this year entitled "The calm before the storm"! GT duly note that, if the US Department of Education's…

One area where the financial crisis has shown the limitation of neo-liberal thinking is the area of educational reform. By studying the different ranges of national responses and by understanding the differing contexts for educational change in historical periods, we can begin to think differently about educational restructuring. In this paper I…

The construction of crises is a key analytical and political issue. This paper examines what is at stake in the processes and practices of construction, responding to the arguments made in Andrew Gamble's "The spectres at the feast" (2009). We suggest that there are three areas of critical concern: first, that too little attention has…

Economic crises such as those of 1929, 1973 and 2008 appear to associate with shifts in the rhetorics of management. These dates mark the end of expansionary phases within an economic cycle, and they portend what James O'Connor has called a "fiscal crisis of the state". It is argued, speculatively, that immediately before and after an…

The Spending Review announced by the Coalition Government in 2010 represents a challenge to those who lead a variety of state-sponsored institutions, not least in post-compulsory education. For General Further Education Colleges (GFECs) who are confronted with a reduction in funding for a wide variety of programmes, and Sixth Form Colleges (SFCs)…

This book presents articles that document the serious funding problems faced by higher education institutions and systems in the Asian and Pacific region, and explores possible strategies to address these problems. It presents an overview of the financial situation faced by higher education in the region, and then discusses two main strategies…

Addresses the implications and impacts of a board of education decision to close an outdoor education center. Stresses the rationale for outdoor and environmental education, the connection between classroom curriculum and outdoor education, and the reduction in systemwide services that would result from the closing. (LP)

Describes efforts of an advocacy group of parents, outdoor educators, and classroom teachers to preserve outdoor education in Peel in the face of budget cuts. Despite efforts, a task force recommended the elimination of numerous teaching positions, resulting in reduced programming at outdoor education centers. (LP)

Describes how staff at an outdoor education center responded to budget cuts and the threat of program cancellation by encouraging outside use of the center for a fee, and by developing a partnership with the Demonstration Forest Program, resulting in improvement to nature trails and the reinstatement of day-trip programs. (LP)

This report reviews economic factors affecting the universities of Ontario, Canada. In 34 tables and 25 figures it provides comparative data with other Canadian and American institutions over the past 15 years. An executive summary reveals that operating grants from the Ontario government have been declining, and that many universities have been…

This report documents the impact upon Ontario (Canada) universities of a continuous decline in university funding over the past two decades, coupled with major cutbacks in the past year, that have reduced provincial government grants, partially deregulated university tuition fees, and reorganized student aid initiatives. In text and 23 figures the…