[Issue] Fears Over "Grant Reductions" Spread Rapidly... Local Education Driven to the Brink

As This Newspaper Warned, Fears of Budget Cuts Intensify... Education Superintendents' Council Strongly Opposes
Education Office Reserve Funds Plunge by 85%... 92 Billion Won in Integration Costs Become a Sole Burden
Rural Schools at Risk of Becoming Victims... "Cutting Education Budgets Will Come at a High Price"

The government's promise of "bold financial support," which was the driving force behind the launch of the Jeonnam-Gwangju Integrated Special City, has boomeranged back in just a few months as a "massive budget cut."

Recently, moves within the government to reduce and reform the Local Education Financial Grant (which is linked to 20.79% of national tax revenue) have become increasingly apparent. As concerns on the ground about budget cuts have peaked, the local education sector now finds itself truly on the brink.

In response, the Korean Council of Education Superintendents has strongly opposed what it calls "an act that undermines constitutional values," declaring an all-out confrontation with the government. As a result, a sense of crisis now hangs over the entire education ecosystem of the integrated special city.

The Korean Council of Education Superintendents issued a strong statement condemning the government's reform plan of local education finance grants on the 10th. Provided by the Council of Education Superintendents

Education Is a Constitutional Value, Not an Economic Logic... Directly Refuting the Argument of Declining School-Age Population

On July 10th, the Korean Council of Education Superintendents held an emergency meeting at its Sejong City office and released a statement strongly condemning the government's local education financial grant reform plan.

The Council first pointed out the violation of "constitutional values." It emphasized that education finance is not simply a matter of economic efficiency but is a critical foundation for safeguarding the "autonomy of education" enshrined in Article 31 of the Constitution. The Council warned that if the grant calculation method is dictated at the discretion of the fiscal authorities, it would lead to the fatal outcome of education—the nation's future—becoming subject to economic fluctuations.

The Council also systematically refuted the government's justification for cuts based on the "declining school-age population" with concrete data. "Just as a reduction in troop numbers does not automatically justify cutting defense spending, using a decline in the school-age population as a direct basis for reducing education finance is a simple arithmetic fallacy," the Council asserted.

In reality, a significant portion of the education budget—such as staff salaries, school operating expenses, and facility safety and maintenance costs—are fixed costs incurred on a school and classroom basis, not determined by the number of students. The Council further noted, "The fiscal authority's claim that local education offices are flush with funds has also been proven untrue," adding, "Reserve funds held by provincial and metropolitan education offices have plummeted by 85.9%, from 21.4 trillion won to 3 trillion won over the past four years."

The Council continued, "There are more than a few education offices that will have to issue debt immediately," and pleaded that "due to the implementation of national policies such as the integration of early childhood education and care, as well as support for secondary and lifelong education, the demand for budget at the field level is actually exploding."

Jung Geunsik, Superintendent of the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, stressed, "The grant system that has supported public education in Korea for over 50 years is now at a critical turning point," and added, "While we are willing to fully engage in dialogue with the government, the education finance necessary for our children's learning and growth must never be shaken."

The "Three-Month Signal" This Newspaper Warned About... Even the 92 Billion Won Integration Cost Becomes a Burden

This urgent statement from the Council of Education Superintendents is the direct result of the crisis signals that this newspaper has been tracking and continually warning about at the grassroots level since March.

Back in March, this newspaper was the first to point out that Article 61 of the Special Act (local tax rate exemptions), if linked to local education tax, could result in education transfer revenues dropping by several hundred billion won. In April, we exposed the structural contradiction that, since 92 billion won in integration-related operational costs is not reflected as national funding, the entire burden would fall on the local education offices.

If local education offices are forced to cover the entire 92 billion won shortfall for integration costs and government grants are further slashed, the damage will inevitably be felt directly in the regions. In particular, rural schools in counties across Jeonnam, with already low fiscal independence, will inevitably become the primary victims of the budget cuts. This, in effect, undermines the core rationale for launching the Jeonnam-Gwangju Integrated Special City, which aimed to address the educational gap between Gwangju's urban areas and Jeonnam's rural regions and create a foundation for young people to settle in the area.

The anxiety over budget cuts is already having a direct impact on students in classrooms. On the ground, if grant reductions become a reality, it is inevitable that there will be delays in creating safe and comfortable educational environments, worsening access to digital education in the AI era, deepening the urban-rural divide, and disrupting tailored academic administration for university entrance examinees.

The Council sternly warned, "Countries that try to save money on education end up paying a much higher price," and strongly urged the government to: (1) maintain the current national tax linkage rate of 20.79%, and (2) establish a genuine consultative process with provincial and metropolitan education offices.

The government, which in the early days of the integration pledged "full support" and raised regional expectations, must now provide a responsible response to the unified plea and grave warning of an education sector pushed to the brink by fears of grant cuts.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.