"Education on the Brink"...Superintendents Strongly Oppose Government Grant Reform Plan

Chairman Jung Geunsik and Delegation Visit the National Assembly
"Serious Undermining of Elementary and Secondary Education Sustainability"
Delegation Highlights Four Key Contentious Clauses, Including 35% Decline in School-Age Population

The Council of Education Superintendents of Korea has strongly opposed the government's drive to revise the Local Education Finance Grant system, urging the National Assembly to thoroughly review and reconsider the proposed amendment.

According to the Council on September 9, Chairman Jung Geunsik and a delegation of provincial and municipal education superintendents visited the National Assembly twice, on September 7 and 9, and held consecutive meetings with members of the Education Committees from both the ruling and opposition parties.

Chairman Jung Geunsik and the representatives of provincial and city superintendents visited the National Assembly and held consecutive meetings with ruling and opposition members of the Education Committee. Provided by the Council of Superintendents

The education superintendents conveyed concerns that the "Partial Amendment to the Local Education Finance Grant Act" and the 2027 budget proposal submitted by the government could seriously undermine the stability of local education finances and the sustainability of elementary and secondary education.

The superintendents pointed out that, despite fundamentally changing the statutory funding mechanism that has been maintained for 55 years since its introduction in 1971, the proposed reform is being rushed forward without sufficient public discussion and on-site verification.

In particular, the delegation identified several core contentious clauses: ▲ lack of objective and empirical grounds for the formula reflecting a 35% decrease in the school-age population; ▲ failure to account for increasing educational demands, such as AI and digital education and improvements to outdated facilities; ▲ risk of an actual financial reduction due to rising prices and labor costs; and ▲ legal validity issues with retroactive application to settlements before 2026.

The Council stressed that the National Assembly should rigorously re-examine from scratch the legitimacy of abolishing the current linkage of 20.79% of domestic tax revenue and the government's mid-to-long-term expenditure forecasts. Furthermore, they requested that the bill not be hastily processed simply because it is considered an ancillary budget bill, and that, in accordance with the National Assembly Research Service's recommendations, a separate review process be established to ensure sufficient time for scrutiny.

Chairman Jung Geunsik criticized, "The government is unilaterally pushing through the policy, demanding that local education offices simply comply, having essentially already decided on its answer," and added, "While claiming to establish a future response fund, the government must clearly explain why early childhood, elementary, and secondary education—which form the backbone of Korea's future education—are being downgraded in funding priority."

He further stated, "I hope that the National Assembly will not merely rubber-stamp the government's proposal, but instead serve as the final safeguard that reflects the voices from the field of education."

Meanwhile, on the same day, the superintendents visited the tent protest site of the "2026 Local Education Finance Grant Reform Emergency Action," which involves 374 education and civic organizations, to express solidarity and pledged to jointly defend local education finances and prevent setbacks in educational autonomy.

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