Jeong Geun-sik, Seoul superintendent and chair of the Korea Superintendents' Council, presides over an emergency meeting on local education finance reform at the council's office in Sejong on July 10. [Yonhap]
Jeong Geun-sik, Seoul superintendent and chair of the Korea Superintendents' Council, presides over an emergency meeting on local education finance reform at the council's office in Sejong on July 10. [Yonhap]

Superintendents from across the country spoke with one voice Wednesday, saying the local education finance grant — which channels a fixed share of national tax revenue to regional school systems — should not be cut or restructured simply because student enrollment is declining. They argued that fixed operating costs remain unchanged regardless of how many students attend, and that new spending demands in areas such as childcare, special education and AI are only growing.

The Korea Superintendents' Council held a public forum Wednesday afternoon at the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education auditorium in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, under the theme "Reform of the local education finance grant: how should we respond?"

The forum was convened after the Ministry of Planning and Budget flagged inefficiencies in local education finance and called for revising the formula used to calculate the grant, prompting superintendents nationwide to gather and map out a response.

Under the current system, 20.79 percent of national tax revenue collected by the central government is automatically allocated as the education grant — the primary source of income for regional education offices. A boom in the semiconductor sector has sharply lifted corporate and income tax receipts, which flow into the national tax base, pushing the grant higher in turn. Some projections suggest the grant could approach 100 trillion won ($68.2 billion) next year. The Ministry of Planning and Budget argues that allowing the grant to keep growing while enrollment falls undermines fiscal efficiency, and is seeking to change the current allocation structure.

Superintendents said the financial position of local education offices has already deteriorated as grant revenue fluctuates with tax receipts and reserve funds are drawn down. Because schools operate as units — by school and by class, not by individual student headcount — fixed costs such as heating and cooling, facility maintenance and staff salaries continue regardless of how many students are enrolled, they said.

Seoul illustrates the dynamic clearly. The number of students in Seoul fell from 838,837 in 2021 to 756,698 last year, yet over the same period the number of schools rose from 1,366 to 1,387, the number of teachers increased from 57,954 to 60,871, and the number of classes grew from 38,515 to 39,248.

Upgrading aging school buildings is another major budget item the superintendents highlighted. In Seoul, 34.3 percent of all school structures are more than 40 years old, and 156 buildings in that category carry a safety rating of C or below. Education officials say sustained investment is needed to remove hazardous materials such as asbestos and sandwich panels, install sprinkler systems and reinforce buildings against earthquakes.

Teacher and parent groups also oppose any reduction in the grant. Kim Dong-seok, head of the teachers' rights policy division at the Korean Federation of Teachers' Associations, said a cut would delay the resolution of overcrowded classrooms and could lead to reductions in teacher headcount, a wider reliance on itinerant teachers and shortfalls in basic school operating budgets. "The damage will fall on students, parents and school staff," he said.

Yeo Mi-ae, chair of the National Parents' Association for Equal Education, pointed to a widening gap between public and private spending. "In 2024, the number of students fell by 80,000, yet private tutoring expenditure rose by 2.1 trillion won," she said. "When the state bears the cost, every student benefits — but when households bear it, only those who can afford to pay do."

Jeong Geun-sik, chair of the Korea Superintendents' Council and Seoul superintendent, said the current principle of linking the grant to a fixed share of national tax revenue must be preserved. He said "local education finance is not simply a question of whether to cut grants as student numbers fall — it is a question of how far the state will take responsibility for education and how much it will invest in the next generation."


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