RESOURCE ALLOCATION IN ENGLISH EDUCATION—AN APPRAISAL OF THE DECISIONAL FRAMEWORK

Four aspects of the decisional framework for resource allocation in English Education are pursued: (i) The decision process is placed in the context of both its general importance and its particular significance as the system is transformed from expansion to steady state. (ii) The basic expenditure choices and the environment in which they are made are discussed for the decentralised system, in terms of the numerous decision‐makers involved and the influences upon them. (iii) The availability and value of criteria to aid the political choices that must be made—in particular objective economic indicators—are considered. (iv) The disadvantages of the present framework, revealed mainly by recent expenditure limitations, suggest that improvement is only possible if either central government control is strengthened or alternatively local initiative is allowed to flourish.