Critical School Finance

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Bibliographic Details
Title: Critical School Finance
Language: English
Authors: David I. Backer, Esther Cyna
Source: Journal of Educational Administration and History. 2025 57(1):13-33.
Availability: Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Peer Reviewed: Y
Page Count: 21
Publication Date: 2025
Document Type: Journal Articles
Reports - Descriptive
Descriptors: Critical Race Theory, Critical Theory, Educational Finance, Equalization Aid, Financial Policy, School Funds, Resource Allocation, Educational Equity (Finance), Social Justice, Equal Education, Social Systems, Educational Policy, Educational Facilities Planning, Educational Facilities Improvement
DOI: 10.1080/00220620.2024.2357774
ISSN: 0022-0620
1478-7431
Abstract: In this paper, we put forth a framework called Critical School Finance, articulating the framework itself and then applying it to school facilities finance. First, we go back to first principles and discuss what 'critical' denotes, revisiting critical theorist Max Horkheimer's seminal essay 'Traditional vs. Critical Theory.' Second, we offer five central concepts with which a Critical School Finance framework might be composed: inequity/inequality, dispossession, kleptocracy, extraction/super-expropriation, and racial capitalism. Third, we present examples of Critical School Finance scholarship from the arena of school facilities. We conclude with the suggestion that school finance is not aloof from the warp and woof of injustice, struggle, and power, and that critical education researchers should not shy away from the examination thereof; recommending that scholars across disciplines engage with the typically technical details of school finance from a critical perspective.
Abstractor: As Provided
Entry Date: 2025
Accession Number: EJ1459235
Database: ERIC
Description
Abstract:In this paper, we put forth a framework called Critical School Finance, articulating the framework itself and then applying it to school facilities finance. First, we go back to first principles and discuss what 'critical' denotes, revisiting critical theorist Max Horkheimer's seminal essay 'Traditional vs. Critical Theory.' Second, we offer five central concepts with which a Critical School Finance framework might be composed: inequity/inequality, dispossession, kleptocracy, extraction/super-expropriation, and racial capitalism. Third, we present examples of Critical School Finance scholarship from the arena of school facilities. We conclude with the suggestion that school finance is not aloof from the warp and woof of injustice, struggle, and power, and that critical education researchers should not shy away from the examination thereof; recommending that scholars across disciplines engage with the typically technical details of school finance from a critical perspective.
ISSN:0022-0620
1478-7431
DOI:10.1080/00220620.2024.2357774