Local Government School Priorities: Teaching Input and Class Size in Norway, 1980-1992

Increased local government autonomy can cause broader inequalities in the supply of education services. This paper analyzes the municipalities' priorities concerning basic education. The analysis is based on a model where the communes' resources are broken down into teaching input per class, class size and administrative outlays in the period 1980-1992. The model assumes that the commune's priorities regarding basic education are dependent on municipal economic constraints, the residential demands for basic education and other municipal services. The analysis reaches the following conclusions. (1) The resources input in basic schooling has increased markedly during the period 1980-1992. The total teaching input in work-years per class has increased from 1.5 to 2.0, and the mean class size has been reduced from 19 to 17 pupils. The disparities increased somewhat in the period 1980-1985, while they were stable in the period 1986-1992. The disparities were greatest in class size and least in teaching input per class. (2) The teaching input per student is quite insensitive to variations in local government revenues, and the resource level of basic schooling is less dependent on municipal income than are other municipal services. Revenue sensitivity is low in the short term, but greater with permanent changes in local revenue. (3) The level of basic schooling hardly competes with resource requirements in other municipal sectors. The resource input into basic schooling is slightly reduced where the proportion of the population exceeds 80 years of age or is under school age. (4) Those communes where the inhabitants have a high social status do not give priority to basic schooling at the expense of other municipal services. The resource input into basic schooling does not vary noticeably with the level of population, general education or income. (5) Little indicates that the transition from earmarked central government grants to a block grant system has resulted in a lower priority being accorded to basic schooling. The level of basic school resources has, however, become somewhat more sensitive to variations in municipal income base and demographic factors after the introduction of the new grant scheme.