School-based management in the Netherlands: The educational consequences of lump-sum funding

Important changes are taking place in the ways schools are funded in a larg e number of countries. in by far the majority of cases, these changes invol ve more freedom at the school level to decide how money should be spent. Th e Netherlands has had lump-sum funding in vocational secondary education si nce 1992. This has recently also been in operation in general secondary edu cation and will soon be introduced in primary education. Nor very much is k nown about how this method of finding works and its consequences. This arti cle reports on the first study into the relationship between financial posi tion and primary process under this new funding system.