Former Superintendents Urge Retaining Domestic Tax-Linked System, Accepting “Mutually Beneficial Education Finance Plan” amid Grant Reform

November 11, at a press conference at the National Assembly: "Do not undermine the 55-year foundation of education finance"
Calls to retain the current system linking grants to 20.79% of domestic tax revenue
"Concerns over funding shortfalls in the education sector"

Former metropolitan and provincial superintendents of education opposed the government’s plan to reform the local education finance grant system, urging it to retain the current domestic tax-linked system and accept a “mutually beneficial education finance plan.”

Korea Council of Superintendents of Education

On the afternoon of November 11, the Korean Council of Superintendents of Education said that former superintendents had joined forces to hold a press conference on the matter at the National Assembly Communication Center.

Three people attended the press conference: Cho Heeyeon, former Seoul superintendent of education; Ko Youngjin, former Gyeongsangnam-do superintendent of education; and Cho Seongyun, former Gyeonggi-do superintendent of education. Eighteen others also expressed their support by signing a joint statement, including former Seoul superintendent Kwak Nohyun; former Gyeonggi-do superintendent Lim Taehee; former Ulsan superintendents Kim Seokgi and Cheon Changsu; and former Gwangju superintendent Lee Jeongseon.

They voiced concern over the government’s plan to abolish the domestic tax-linked system and introduce a new method for calculating grants that takes into account factors such as economic growth and changes in the school-age population.

The government plans to reform education grants by scrapping the current system, which links grants to 20.79% of domestic tax revenue, and calculating the grant growth rate based on the nominal growth rate, adjusted for 35% of the rate of change in the school-age population.

The former superintendents forecast that, if the government’s plan is implemented, grants in 2027 would be about 31 trillion won lower than the amount calculated under the current system. They also expect that the 16 metropolitan and provincial offices of education nationwide would face a funding shortfall of about 7.4 trillion won while drawing up their 2027 budgets.

They warned that nearly all of the approximately 2.5 trillion won increase in grants in 2027 would likely go toward essential expenses, including higher personnel costs for school staff, leaving significantly less funding available for improving school facilities and expanding educational welfare.

“We must take into account the realities of rural and fishing communities and areas with declining populations, where schools must be maintained and equal educational opportunities guaranteed even as the number of students falls,” they said. “We must not sacrifice education today in the name of preparing for the future.”

They also voiced support for the “mutually beneficial education finance plan” proposed by the Korean Council of Superintendents of Education. Under the plan, if grants increase by more than 5% from the previous year, two-thirds of the excess increase would be used as a source of national funding for future investment. Conversely, if grants fall by more than 5%, the government would make up one-third of the excess decrease.

“The idea is to share the burden when grants increase substantially and take responsibility together when they fall sharply,” they said, describing it as “a reasonable alternative that would secure funding for the nation’s future investments while also safeguarding the stability of education finance.”

They called for legal guarantees for grant settlement funds under current law, as well as meaningful participation by people in the education sector. “The approximately 11.7 trillion won in grant settlement funds projected to result from increased tax revenue in 2026 is funding that must be allocated to education under current law. Legislation must ensure that it is not reduced or omitted during the reform process,” they said.

The former superintendents said, “It is easy to halt investment in education, but restoring an educational environment once it has deteriorated takes far more time and money.” They added, “The government and the National Assembly must not undermine the foundation of education finance that has been upheld for 55 years. They must retain the domestic tax-linked system and accept the mutually beneficial education finance plan.”

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