New labour and school-based education in England: changing the system of finding?

This article focuses on the financing of school-based education and the way s in which this has changed since the Labour Government was elected into of fice in May 1997. It also analyses fundamental problems associated with the current system and how these might be rectified The main conclusions are t hat although the Labour Government has made clear efforts to target money o n areas with high levels of poverty, the system by which most funds for edu cation are allocated, via local authorities, is fundamentally flawed In ord er to make informed, evidence-based judgements about how much money is need ed for education, high quality research needs to be carried out. This shoul d establish the resources needed to enable children with different levels o f prior attainment to meet specified educational goals in the context of di fferent levels of disadvantage in schools. Only then can the Government be sure that adequate funds are being targeted where they are most needed.