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Education Finance, Equality, and Equity

Iris Bendavid-Hadar
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Education, Equity, Economy
Series Editors: George W. Noblit · William Pink

Iris BenDavid-Hadar Editor

Education
Finance,
Equality, and
Equity
Education, Equity, Economy

Volume 5

Series Editors
George W. Noblit, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA
William T. Pink, Marquette University, Milwaukee, USA

Editorial Board
Belmira Bueno, University of São Paulo, Brazil
Rattana Buosonte, Naresuan University, Phitsanulok, Thailand
Li Manli, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
Allan Luke, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia
Jane Van Galen, University of Washington, Bothell, USA
More information about this series at http://www.springer.com/series/13055
Iris BenDavid-Hadar
Editor

Education Finance, Equality,


and Equity

123
Editor
Iris BenDavid-Hadar
School of Education
Bar Ilan University
Ramat Gan, Israel

ISSN 2364-835X ISSN 2364-8368 (electronic)


Education, Equity, Economy
ISBN 978-3-319-90387-3 ISBN 978-3-319-90388-0 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-90388-0

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018951216

© Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature 2018


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Acknowledgments

I would like to dedicate this book in memory of my late father Mr. Arye Ben-David
whose spirit lies in the foundations for this book.
I wish to thank the blind reviewers for their thorough reading of this manuscript.
Their insightful comments took this book a step further.
In addition, I would like to thank Mrs. Jean Vermal for her notable English editing
of many chapters of this book, and Mrs. Tamar Kravetz for her valuable assistance
in formatting this book and styling the references of each chapter.

v
Contents

Education Finance, Equality and Equity – Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1


Iris BenDavid-Hadar

Part I Education Finance


School Finance Policy and Justice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
Iris BenDavid-Hadar
Why Should Tax Justice Be Part of the Solution to Finance Free
Good Quality Education? A Multi-country Study: Pakistan, Ghana,
Kenya and Uganda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
Maria Ron-Balsera
A Historical and Conceptual Overview of School Finance
Equalization Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
Tyrone Bynoe
Investing in Education and Equality in Mongolia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Otgontugs Banzragch and Munkhireedui Bayanjargal
Economic Recession and School Finance: A Cross-National Study . . . . . . . . 93
Ji Liu
Financing of Higher Education Institutions: Access to Funds
and Issues of Equity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
Jinusha Panigrahi
Funding Mechanisms for Financing Vocational Training: An
Analytical Framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Adrian Ziderman

vii
viii Contents

Part II Educational Equality and Equity


Equality and Equity in Education Finance: A Conceptual Analysis . . . . . . . 167
Tal Gilead
The Economic Costs of Educational Inequality in Developing Countries . 181
Carina Omoeva, Wael Moussa, and Charles Gale
Measuring (In) Equality in Education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219
Zehorit Dadon-Golan, Iris BenDavid-Hadar, and Joseph Klein
Together or Apart: Equality of Educational Opportunity in the
Light of the Secular-Ultra-Orthodox Cleavage in Israel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243
Meidan Koresh and Iris BenDavid-Hadar
Choice and Efficiency in Education: New Perspective
on the Tiebout Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 261
Mor Zahavi, Iris BenDavid-Hadar, and Joseph Klein
Financial Education and Equality. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281
Iris BenDavid-Hadar and Yaniv Hadad
Conclusions and Directions for Future Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 297
Iris BenDavid-Hadar

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305
Contributors

Otgontugs Banzragch Department of Economics, Economic Research Institute of


Mongolia, National University of Mongolia, Ulan Bator, Mongolia
Munkhireedui Bayanjargal Department of Economics, Economic Research
Institute of Mongolia, National University of Mongolia, Ulan Bator, Mongolia
Iris BenDavid-Hadar School of Education, Bar Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel
Tyrone Bynoe University of Michigan-Flint, Flint, MI, USA
Charles Gale Education Policy and Data Center, Washington, DC, USA
Zehorit Dadon-Golan School of Education, Bar Ilan University, Ramat Gan,
Israel
Hemdat Hadarom College of Education, Netivot, Israel
Tal Gilead Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel
Yaniv Hadad School of Education, Bar Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel
Ji Liu Teachers College, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA
Joseph Klein School of Education, Bar Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel
Meidan Koresh School of Education, Bar Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel
Carina Omoeva Education Policy and Data Center, Washington, DC, USA
Jinusha Panigrahi Centre for Policy Research in Higher Education (CPRHE),
National University of Educational Planning and Administration, New Delhi, India
Maria Ron-Balsera Right to Education Initiative / ActionAid, London, UK
Wael Moussa Education Policy and Data Center, Washington, DC, USA
Mor Zahavi School of Education, Bar Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel
Adrian Ziderman Economics Department, Bar Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel

ix
Abbreviations

ARRA American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009


ADA Average Daily Attendance
API Academic Performance Index
BEPS Base Erosion and Profit Shifting
BLS Bureau of Labor Statistics
CEA Council of Economic Advisers
CPRHE Centre for Policy Research in Higher Education
CRC The Convention on the Rights of the Child
DGP Gross Domestic Product
EAD Educational Achievement Distribution
EEO Equality of Educational Opportunity
EFA Education for All
FCUBE Free Compulsory Universal Basic Education
FSPK Facilities Support Program of Kentucky
GC General Comment
GDP Global Domestic Product
GMM Generalized Method of Moments
GOI Government of India
GOVFUND Government’s Share of School Financing
GTB Guaranteed Tax Base
HB44 House Bill 44
HC Human Capital
HCC Human Capital Contract
HE Horizontal Equity
HEI Higher Education Institutions
ICESCR International Covenant of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
IEAD Improvement in the Educational Achievement Distribution
IMF International Monetary Fund
INFE International Network on Financial Education
IV Instrumental Variable
KERA Kentucky Education Reform Act of 1990

xi
xii Abbreviations

LAC Latin American and Caribbean


MCEECDYA Ministerial Council for Education, Early Childhood Development
and Youth Affairs
MDGs Millennium Development Goals
MHRD Ministry of Human Resource Development
MoF Ministry of Finance
NBER National Bureau of Economic Research
NEDLAC National Economic Development and Labour Council
NSA National Skills Authority
NSO National Statistics Office
NTA National Training Authority
NTF National Training Fund
NYSED New York State Education Department
NYTA New York Tax Association
OB Oaxaca-Blinder
ODA Overseas Development Aid
OECD Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
OLS Ordinary Least Squares
OR Odds Ratio
PISA Programme for International Student Assessment
PPP Purchasing Power Parity
PETS Public Expenditure Tracking Survey
RATCOMP Ratio of Computers to School Size
SAF Student Aid Fund
SDG10 Sustainable Development Goals 10
SDGs Sustainable Development Goals
SDF Ratio of Computers to School Size
SETAs Sector Education and Training Authorities
SEEK Support Educational Excellence in Kentucky
SES Socio Economic Strata
SFAI School Fee Abolition Initiative
SFP School Finance Policy
STRATIO Student-to-Teacher Ratio
TVET Technical and Vocational Education and Training
UBOS Uganda Bureau of Statistics
UER Unemployment Rate
UGC University Grants Commission
UIS UNESCO Institute of Statistics
UN CESCR United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organi-
zation
UNHCR The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees
UN United Nations
UPE Universal Primary Education
Abbreviations xiii

USE Universal Secondary Education


UT Union Territories
VAT Value Added Tax
VE Vertical Equity
VETA Vocational Education and Training Authority
Education Finance, Equality
and Equity – Introduction

Iris BenDavid-Hadar

Abstract This book aims to revisit equality and equity in educational issues,
especially in relation to education finance related topics. This book connects
education finance policy with changing trends of educational equality and equity
while examining selected themes from an international viewpoint.

Keywords Education finance · Policy · Equity · Fairness · Equality

1 General

This book aims to revisit equality and equity in educational issues, especially in
relation to education finance related topics. This book connects education finance
policy with changing trends of educational equality and equity while examining
selected themes from an international viewpoint.
The research field of education finance is a rapidly advancing field that has
significantly influenced policymaking in many countries. As implied by its name,
the focus of this field is on the relationships between education and finance. It
focuses on methods of resource allocation and its influence on education. This
field of research has had a major influence on education policy. Reforms in policy
set the ground for new research questions, and the knowledge gained by research
contributes to the design of a better policy.
This book is intended to introduce the reader to major theories and concepts in
the field of education finance (at the local level, the nation-state level, and the cross-
country level). In addition, it outlines possible future directions.

I. BenDavid-Hadar ()
School of Education, Bar Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel
e-mail: Iris.hadar@biu.ac.il

© Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature 2018 1


I. BenDavid-Hadar (eds.), Education Finance, Equality, and Equity,
Education, Equity, Economy 5, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-90388-0_1
2 I. BenDavid-Hadar

Education finance is involved mainly with the challenges of improving education


by conceptualizing, designing, and reforming educational allocation methods (e.g.,
funding mechanisms, national budgets, and international monetary support of
education).
There is an ongoing debate on what counts as effective, efficient, fair, and just
allocation, and on the trade-offs among these goals. In the context of the Western
world, this debate is valid within the theoretical framework of education finance
which lies in a triangle composed of three dominant values: equality, efficiency, and
liberty (Guthrie & Wong, 2015). The interrelationships among these three values are
described as an ongoing conflict, as each value competes with the other two in the
political milieu, “Whereas the three values are held dear in abstract, they are often
in direct conflict in practice” (p. 62).
Furthermore, Guthrie and Wong (2015) argue that, on the one hand, “To pursue
equality to its absolute metaphysical limit is to substantially restrict liberty” (p. 63).
On the other hand, they argue that “To eschew equality and to pursue only choice
or liberty runs the risk of creating wealth and social class extremes sufficient to
jeopardize social political stability. Finally, while efficiency may be well furthered
by choice and liberty, unfettered pursuit of efficiency may jeopardize equality”
(p. 63).
Liberty, which is the ability of individuals and groups to choose and maximize
personal preference, is often seen, especially within the U.S. context, as a higher
goal. “Unfettered choice in schooling, however, might jeopardize civic unity or
social cohesion and could exacerbate material and social inequality”(ibid, p. 63).
Furthermore, the literature on political theory asserts that there is a tradeoff
between liberty and equality. Levin (2001) argues that the expansion of liberties
most often leads to greater inequality and division among members of society,
whereas preferences for equality moderate those divisions. Furthermore, Abrams
(2016) reviews the experience of Sweden and Chile, which embraced school
privatization under conservative leadership. In both countries, the result of school
choice increased social inequity. Baker (2016) further argues that the only way
expanded liberty can lead to greater equality is if available choices are substantively
equal, conforming to a common set of societal standards. He further asks, if
available choices are substantively equal, then why choose one over another? Thus,
systems of choice and competition rely on differentiation and inequality.
The pursuit of ways to improve educational outcomes, such as the Educational
Achievement Distribution (EAD), encompasses a wide range of issues, such as
addressing the right to education from the funding perspective, narrowing the
achievement gap, and boosting the level of achievement. It concerns the distribution
of funding, the EAD, and their interrelationships. Measurements and concepts have
been developed to address this issue, such as horizontal equity, vertical equity,
wealth neutrality, the equality of educational opportunities, and adequacy.
There are several prominent discussions in the field of study of education finance.
One of them is whether money matters and, in what ways, if at all. Until recently,
it was commonly argued that schooling has little impact on student achievement
(Coleman et al., 1966; Hanushek, 1986, 1989, 1994, 1996, 1997). One practical
Education Finance, Equality and Equity – Introduction 3

implication of these studies is that school finance does not play a central role in
improving the EAD. Nonetheless, Heyneman and Loxley (1983), after expanding
this framework to the international level (i.e., enlarging the scope from solely
focusing on the Western world to Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle
East) found that in low-income countries, the effect of school and teacher quality
on academic achievement in primary school is comparatively greater.
Furthermore, in the early 1990s, empirical studies in the Western world found a
positive, statistically significant, relationship between school resources and student
achievement (Greenwald, Hedges, & Laine, 1996; Hedges, Laine, & Greenwald,
1994). Moreover, using an updated statistical methodology, it was found that the
quality of schooling significantly affects student outcomes (Baker, 2012; Konstan-
topolous & Borman, 2011).
In the last two decades, much empirical effort has been devoted to understanding
how financial allocation matters (Ladd & Goertz, 2015). Empirical work was con-
ducted to evaluate the impact of resource allocation on student performance, such as
smaller schools (Stiefel, Berne, Iatarola, & Fruchter, 2000); lower student-teacher
ratios; smaller class size (Ferguson, 1991; Grissmer, Flanagan, & Williamson, 1998;
Krueger, 1998; Murnane & Levy, 1996; Picus, 2001); the use of teaching aids
(Krueger, 1998); directing resources toward minority and disadvantaged students
(Grissmer et al., 1998); directing additional spending toward poor or low-spending
districts (Guryan, 2001); raising the quality of teachers (Grissmer et al., 1998;
Krueger, 1998); reorganizing schools using new approaches for design; and restruc-
turing school time (Picus, 2001). Another line of work was devoted to evaluating the
impact of incentives with payment for performance on student performance (Ladd
& Walsh, 2002; Lavy, 2002, 2003; Muralidharan & Sundararaman, 2008; Springer
& Winters, 2009) and the conditions for an effective performance pay policy (Ladd,
1996).
Moreover, more recent studies find a positive causal relationship or an impact of
equitable finance on outcomes (e.g., Jackson, Johnson, & Persico, 2015). Jackson,
Johnson, and Persico (2016) studied the effects of school finance reforms in the U.S.
on long-run adult outcomes. Their findings reveal that increased per pupil spending
induced by school finance reforms increased the educational attainment as well as
improved the adult labor market outcomes of low-income children. For low-income
children, a 10% increase in per pupil spending each year for all 12 years of public
school is associated with 0.46 additional years of completed education, 9.6% higher
earnings, and a 6.1 percentage point reduction in the annual incidence of adult
poverty. The results imply that a 25% increase in per pupil spending throughout
one’s school years could eliminate the average attainment gaps between children
from low-income (average family income of $31,925 in 2000 dollars) and non-poor
families (average family income of $72,029 in 2000 dollars).
Lafortune, Rothstein, and Schanzenbach (2016) study the impact of post-1990
school finance reforms, during the so-called “adequacy” era, on the distribution of
school spending and student achievement between high-income and low-income
school districts. Using an event study design, they found that reform events – court
4 I. BenDavid-Hadar

orders and legislative reforms – lead to sharp, immediate, and sustained increases in
mean school spending and in relative spending in low-income school districts.
Using test score data from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, they
found that reforms cause gradual increases in the relative achievement of students
in low-income school districts, consistent with the goal of improving educational
opportunity for these students. The implied effect of school resources on educational
achievement is large. The (local) average effect of an extra $1000 in per-pupil annual
spending is to raise student test scores 10 years later by 0.18 standard deviations.
Johnson (2015) found that increases in Title I funding are significantly related to
increases in educational attainment, high school graduation rates, higher earnings
and work hours, reductions in grade repetition, school suspension or expulsion,
incarceration, and reductions in the annual incidence of poverty in adulthood. This
shows that effects on educational outcomes are more pronounced for poor children.
Another discussion concerns the relation between the effectiveness and the
efficiency of school finance, on the one hand, and its fairness and equity, on the
other.
The tension between the two values of equity and efficiency is reflected in the
planning of school finance policy (SFP) as well as in its implementation. As derived
from these dynamics, a decentralized finance mechanism is viewed as more efficient
and less equity-oriented than a centralized finance mechanism.
In economic terms, the concept of efficiency can be defined as the relationship
between inputs and outputs, whereby economic efficiency is increased by a gain
in units of output per unit of input. This can occur by holding output constant and
decreasing input or by deriving greater production from the same level of input. In
relation to education, then, we may say that various educational outcomes can result
from a variety of different combinations of inputs, such as teachers, buildings, class
size, curriculum, etc.
The research on education efficiency studies the utilization of monetary inputs
with respect to produced outputs. The variables studied may be, for instance, per
student expenditure, public spending on education, etc. (Afonso & Aubyn, 2006;
Cornali, 2012; Lockheed & Hanushek, 1994; Rolle, 2016; Wöstmann, Lüdemann,
Schütz, & West, 2007). Educational efficiency can be measured in physical terms
(technical efficiency) or in terms of cost (economic efficiency). Greater educational
efficiency is achieved when the same amount and standard of educational services
are produced at a lower cost, if a more useful educational activity is substituted
for a less useful one at the same cost, or if unnecessary educational activities are
eliminated. Greater efficiency is achieved where the same amount and standard of
services are produced for a lower cost or if a more useful activity is substituted for
a less useful one at the same cost. Hoxby (1996) discusses productive efficiency,
that is, getting education at the least cost. However, a one-dimensional point of
view towards equity or efficiency is not sufficient as it fails to capture the nature
of education. Therefore, it is important to take into consideration that equity
and efficiency should be defined in terms of the achievement distribution and
demonstrated improvement by all student groups (Rice, 2004).
Education Finance, Equality and Equity – Introduction 5

This discussion relates to political philosophy, since it involves understanding


the ways a state views itself as responsible for providing the right to education.
Democracies are obligated to a just and a fair education system and hence, a just
and fair education finance policy. However, policies also need to consider the need
to compete globally and the need to finance education within strict fiscal constraints.
Demographic changes, such as the contemporary waves of massive immigration,
also add to the complexity of allocating resources fairly. For example, given fiscal
constraints, a state could decide to invest more in gifted and talented students, in
line with Plato’s philosophy, or to allocate more resources to the less advantaged
ones, in line with Rawls’s (1971) Theory of Justice. In fact, the literature is replete
with the trade-off between the aim to better compete globally and the aim to sustain
social cohesiveness (e.g., Stiglitz, 2012). A possible breakthrough could take place
by adapting Sen’s (2009) idea of comparative justice. Accordingly, a method of
allocation can aim at improving the relative position of a student from his or her
initial starting point on the EAD (BenDavid-Hadar, 2016, 2018).
This book also wishes to elaborate the frame of school finance onto the interna-
tional level. Most of the work on education finance policy is done within the Western
world. However, some work on equity within resource allocation has been done
at the international level. For example, the UNICEF (2015) report entitled, “The
Investment Case for Education and Equity” (p. 57), used some equity measurements
in resource allocation (i.e., Lorenz Curve) in an international development context.
Furthermore, Houck and Eom (2012), in their innovative paper, have taken school
finance equity and adequacy analysis one step further into the international level,
analyzing Korean data using education finance concepts of equity and adequacy.
However innovative in its framework, Houck and Eom (2012), although applying
school finance equity and adequacy analyses to the international field analyzing
equity in the Korean school system, their paper still lies in the US framework of
education finance, advocating that “government and schools are currently expected
to both play a substantial role in guaranteeing students a minimum level of
performance, and provide sufficient resources to ensure this outcome” (p. 19).
Similar to Houck and Eom (2012), the scope of this book is international.
However, it aims at broadening the framework and argues that the contemporary
creation of a learning society (Stiglitz & Greenwald, 2014) has set a different agenda
for school finance research and policy.
The argument that underlies this book is three-fold. First, it argues that the current
framework of school finance that has been mainly developed in Western countries
and is focused on an equity and adequacy framework needs to be broadened to
the international level, and to adjust to the knowledge era in which the learning
society is created. Specifically, it is argued that an equity- and adequacy-based
framework for school finance might develop a school system that is standards-based,
because following the adequacy notion, resources are allocated upon reaching a
set of standards. Furthermore, a standards-based schooling system might develop
a school system which is more test oriented and, by doing so, it might lead to a
departure from a learning-based school system. A learning-based school system is
6 I. BenDavid-Hadar

highly needed for the creation of the learning society. However, the current equity
and adequacy framework might have an adverse effect in this sense.
Second, the current equity adequacy framework for school finance goes hand in
hand with accountability as a major policy feature in a school organizational culture.
In this sense, it leads to a departure from a trust-based school system. A trust-based
school system may lead to a more flourishing public school system (Brighouse,
2008). In this sense, accountability might lead to a less trust-based school system.
This, in turn, has an additional adverse effect on the public school system.
Third, setting a framework of equity adequacy for school finance might hinder
the upper margin of the attainment distribution, because it is aimed at a set of
standards. However, outside of school, the knowledge era is focusing more and more
on innovation, creativity and a different way of thinking “outside the box,” aiming
at breaking through the frontier of knowledge. Therefore, it argues that setting a
framework that is focused on equity and adequacy might lead to an upper margin
of the EAD that is less able in terms of breaking through the current knowledge.
In doing so, an additional adverse effect of the current framework is to hinder the
public school system.
As a result, countries that will continue to design their education finance policy
within the current framework of equity and adequacy (i.e., the relationships between
funding and outcomes) might find it hard to increase their level of competitiveness,
so needed in the globalized knowledge-based economy. Furthermore, it is argued
that the focus on the equity and adequacy as a framework for school finance might
also exacerbate maintaining social cohesiveness.
Furthermore, as argued by Stiglitz (2012), in his book entitled “The Price of
Inequality,” cohesion is a first-order requirement on the way to achieve a global
competitive advantage. Thus, a country that bases its school finance policy on the old
world in which a government is responsible to solely provide the required resources
for achieving a minimum level of performance, or even for achieving standards-
based performance, might miss the point of the new world in which the creation of a
learning society is taking place. A world that is characterized by rapid changes that
are based on breaking through the frontier of knowledge. Thus, school finance policy
of the contemporary era might wish to reconceptualize its framework. Perhaps, a
dynamic improvement-based notion of equity in finance can be more useful in such
a changing world (BenDavid-Hadar, 2018).
Inspired by Sen, “The Idea of Justice” (2009), it is suggested that school finance
research and policy will embrace an alternative framework, viewing education
as aimed at a comparative dynamic improvement in terms of repositioning each
student in a better situation compared to his or her initial situation. Such a goal
can be promoted by a mechanism of allocation that fuses two elements: equity
and improvement (BenDavid-Hadar, 2018). The equity element strives for equity
defined as a needs-based component (Ross & Levacic, 1999) and thus would
be designed to benefit the least advantaged (Rawls, 1971). By compensating for
disadvantaged students (e.g. providing additional budgeting for schools who have
larger rates of students from low SES families, or a lower level of parental
education), a funding formula based on this principle would potentially promote
Education Finance, Equality and Equity – Introduction 7

the reduction of gaps and reduce disparity within the EAD. At the same time, the
improvement element of the redistribution mechanism would strive for improving
the overall attainment distribution by rewarding dynamic improvement (e.g. by pro-
viding more funds to schools whose students demonstrate significant improvement
in their educational attainment each period). By doing so, it would improve the
cohesion within the state itself over time, as the development of human capital
would gradually increase the state’s future competitiveness. Therefore, such a fusion
would potentially contribute to the advancement of social cohesiveness as well as
competitiveness.
The notion of the learning society has set a new frame. While the current
frame lies on the equity-efficiency tradeoff, advocating a tradeoff between state
competitiveness and cohesiveness, the new notion supports the idea that competitive
ability and efficiency will be more established when equity and cohesion is solid.
In addition, this book includes some chapters that are oriented towards the Israeli
school system. Israel, as a polycultural state (Rosenthal & Levy, 2010), sets an
interesting case as it aspires to achieve equality of educational opportunities; yet, its
achievement gap is high. The Israeli educational achievement distribution (EAD) as
presented in international examinations, such as PISA, and in national examinations
(e.g., high school matriculation examinations) is characterized by a wide gap
between students with high performance and students with low performance, and by
an average level of achievement compared with the average of the OECD countries.
In fact, although the policy aspires for equality of educational opportunities, the
Israeli achievement gap is the highest amongst OECD countries. Furthermore, this
gap is evident when the EAD is cross-sectioned by culture intergroup, such as
secular Jewish and Ultra-Orthodox Jewish students (Benoliel & Barth, 2017) as
well as by other student background characteristics, such as the wealth of their
community (e.g., low SES/high SES), by their origin of birth (e.g., Israeli students
born in Ethiopia/former USSR), and by their nationality (e.g., Israeli-Arab/Israeli-
Jewish) (BenDavid-Hadar, 2008, 2018).
Israeli society, like other societies (e.g., the US), is diverse. However, diversity
in the Israeli context is further complex.
Indeed, in Israel, there is a high minority/majority balance of power (1 to 3),
compared to other countries. Furthermore, this high ratio lies in the historically
long conflict and is located in the geographically problematic Middle East region.
In other words, the Israeli context offers a further interesting case study for the
equality, equity, and school finance policy discussion presented in this book, as its
educational system aims to develop all students regardless of their socio-cultural
associations.
The literature on education finance policy points out the relationship between
funding and academic achievement (e.g., Ladd & Fiske, 2008). Moreover, the
literature points out that the contribution of resources allocated to students with low
starting points (e.g., low SES, minority) to the improvement of their achievement is
higher compared with the improvement of students with high starting points. Hence,
the large achievement gap of the Israeli students remains a puzzle, given the equity
aspiration of policymakers.
8 I. BenDavid-Hadar

Indeed, Israel allocates large resources aimed at narrowing this gap; yet, it
remains high. It seems that there is a mismatch between the education-finance policy
literature and Israeli reality. There are chapters in this book that are focused on this
mismatch in Israel, presented as a case study.
Currently, some European countries struggle with similar complex diversity
realities, and are also dealing with a similar question of the provision of a fair and
equitable education for refugee children of Arab nationality. The implications of the
Israeli case might assist other polycultural states who are aiming to achieve equality
of educational opportunity for all.
Finally, this book addresses in some chapters the question of equity in higher
education. Equity in higher education is a far more complex issue, and is still an
aspiration. Although higher education has been expanded greatly worldwide, it has
not benefited all sectors of society within the nation-state equally (David, 2009).
Furthermore, equity in higher education is even more challenged in the light of
the contemporary diversification of society that is met in many countries. “Today
universities are required to promote equity, fairness and justice, on the one hand,
and maintain efficiency, quality and public accountability, on the other” (Gupta,
2006, p. 4).
It has been argued that in order to pursue equity in higher education, there is
a need to address the finance issue from a policy perspective. Cost remains an
enormous barrier to access, obviously affecting lower social sectors more than
others and, by that, impact on inequity.

2 Structure

This book is focused on equity and equality in education in an international


frame. It is made up of two major sections encompassing 15 chapters. The first
section is concerned with equity issues in education finance, and it encompasses
eight chapters. The second section of this book discusses equality and equity in
educational outcomes or in the Educational Achievement Distribution (EAD), and
encompasses also seven chapters.
The first chapter introduces the book to the international reader. The introduction
is followed by a Chapter titled “School Finance Policy and Justice” by Iris
BenDavid-Hadar that examines the relationships between education finance policies
and theories of justice. The contemporary era of globalization and the shift towards
the knowledge-based economy challenge the nation-state education finance policy.
The increasing need to achieve and sustain competitiveness and, at the same time,
maintain social cohesiveness at the nation-state level challenge the method by which
the nation-state finances its educational system. This chapter discusses common
strategies that are used to achieve both goals.
As the contemporary discussions in this field of study are currently more
concerned not only by the nation-state level of financing education but also by the
global aspects of education finance and the aspiration of achieving the SDG 4, the
Education Finance, Equality and Equity – Introduction 9

need to finance this goal either by global taxation or by other global redistribution
mechanisms is prominent. The Chapter titled “Why Should Tax Justice Be Part
of the Solution to Finance Free Good Quality Education? A Multi-country Study:
Pakistan, Ghana, Kenya and Uganda” by Maria Ron-Balsera, Right to Education
Project, analyses the effect of the inadequate financing of education, and explores
sustainable and equitable solutions.
The Chapter titled “A Historical and Conceptual Overview of School Finance
Equalization Models” by Tyrone Bynoe describes the historical and conceptual
models of school finance equalization policies with a special focus on the U.S.
educational system. This chapter discusses, from an historical point of view, the
conceptual evolution of school finance equalization policy as a state and national
response to fundamental problems of supporting K-12 public schools. The chapter
clarifies how the concept of equalization is best understood as a policy of fairness
resulting in remedies of horizontal equity, vertical equity, and cost-equity.
The Chapter titled “Investing in Education and Equality in Mongolia” by
Otgontugs Banzragch and Munkhireedui Bayanjargal examines education finance in
Mongolia focusing on equity and equality. Using data from the Ministry of Finance
of Mongolia, government spending on children is examined in the last decade. The
findings show that as of 2016, Mongolia spends 5.1% of GDP and 12.8% of the
central budget expenditure on the education sector. The net attendance rates are
high (44.6, 99.1, 94.3, and 90% in early childhood education, primary, secondry, and
upper secondary or high school, respectively). In addition, in 2012, the significant
gains in equity have been made, gaps in enrollment between urban and rural, rich
and poor, and girls and boys all having narrowed since 2002. Moreover, Mongolia
has the highest gender reverse gap in education attainment among men and women
in the country. Challenges are remaining. The country needs to develop an equitable,
responsive, quality educational system that serves the needs of all ethnic minority-
Kazakh children and young adults’ education. Even so, Mongolia’s progress on
financing early childhood, primary and secondary, technical vocational training can
provide important lessons to other countries.
The Chapter titled “Economic Recession and School Finance: A Cross-National
Study” by Ji Liu conducts a cross-national comparative education finance study.
Using five waves of Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) data,
this chapter assesses and compares school-level finance responses to the most recent
2008 global economic crisis across 28 member countries in the Organization for
Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). The findings reveal, first, that
while many OECD countries increased stimulus spending in education sectors as a
whole, not all levels of education benefitted. Second, empirical evidence shows that
the 2008 recession negatively influenced the direct institutional cost burden created
by government financial sources and decreased the relative amount of personnel
resources available. Third, a positive association between economic declines and
non-personnel school resource investments was found.
The Chapter titled “Financing of Higher Education Institutions: Access to Funds
and Issues of Equity” by Jinusha Panigrahi discusses and examines equity issues
in the financing of Higher Education Institutions in India. This chapter argues
10 I. BenDavid-Hadar

that massification of higher education challenges its funding method. On the one
hand, access is increasing and, on the other, the scarcity of public funds highlights
equity issues. This challenge is even more prominent in developing countries, such
as India. Most of these countries fund their higher education institutions through
private investment rather than public sector initiative. The growing demand for
higher education along with the fiscal constraints create serious implications for
the existing higher education institutions in under-developed regions.
The first section of this book ends with the Chapter titled “Funding Mechanisms
for Financing Vocational Training: An Analytical Framework”. In this chapter,
Adrian Ziderman examines the funding mechanisms of vocational training. Voca-
tional training is a vital component of the drive to enhance productivity, stimulate
economic development and competitiveness, reduce the incidence of unemploy-
ment, and lift disadvantaged groups out of poverty. However, training provisions
in many countries are underfinanced and fragmented and, as a consequence, fail
to meet the skill needs of the economy and of society as a whole. This chapter
emphasizes the central role that financing strategies can (and should) play in
enhancing the effectiveness and efficiency of training systems, through incentives,
greater competition among training providers, and the integration of private and
public provisions.
The second section of this book encompasses an additional seven chapters that
are concerned with equality and equity of educational outcomes. In the Chapter
titled “Equality and Equity in Education Finance: A Conceptual Analysis,” Tal
Gilead reviews and critically examines the philosophical literature on education
finance. Structured around current philosophical debates, such as equity vs. equality,
and rival conceptions of the principles of justice, this chapter targets and highlights
key normative issues surrounding education finance. It aims to provide a better
understanding of how philosophical thinking can advance policymaking in this area.
The Chapter by Carina Omoeva, Wael Moussa, and Charles Gale analyzes the
economic costs of educational inequality in 18 developing countries in Eastern
Europe, Latin America, and Sub-Saharan Africa. It demonstrates that education
can be an effective policy instrument to mitigate economic inequality among
marginalized gender and identity groups in developing countries. It characterizes the
disparities in economic opportunity in relation to disparities in educational attain-
ment across several cross sections, such as gender, identity (ethnic or religious), and
gender-by-identity groups. The findings reveal that about half of the identity group
disparities are explained by gaps in education and only about 15–17% of the gender
employment and wage gap. However, in aggregate, eliminating identity group and
gender education disparities relative to the most advantaged, substantial increases
will be yielded in the total number of salaried workers and in the total wage bill.
The Chapter by Zehorit Dadon-Golan, Iris BenDavid-Hadar, and Joseph Klein
conceptualizes an innovative framework for measuring educational inequality. In
addition, this chapter measures trends in educational inequality along the past
decade, using Israel as a case study. Based on the student level analyses of Logistic-
Regression models enabling the identification of the sources of inequality, the
findings of this study indicate that, among others, student background characteris-
Education Finance, Equality and Equity – Introduction 11

tics, ethnicity, parental education, gender, and the number of siblings are related
to the achievement gap. In addition, student learning and achievement factors
were found related to the student probability of success. For example, studying
an additional mathematic level quadruples the probability of eligibility for a high
school diploma.
The Chapter by Meidan Koresh and Iris BenDavid-Hadar examine the tension
between the freedom of choice and the right to education of children from socio-
cultural groups in multicultural democratic states, and the impact of this tension
between these two contradictory values on educational equity. Many of these states
deal with public struggles regarding the right of socio-cultural groups for the
educational autonomy that will enable them to teach an alternative curriculum while
still being publicly funded. Moreover, these public struggles have a crucial effect on
equity and social gaps due to the fact that the state and its system of education
are held responsible for providing equality of educational opportunities and quality
education that will compensate for inequities and social gaps as well as enable social
mobility for every child. The purpose of this chapter is to examine the struggle
that has been evolving in the Israeli public arena from the late 1990s till now. This
struggle revolves around a demand to implement a core curriculum in the Haredi
(Ultra-Orthodox) schools. Israel is used as an interesting case study because of the
large extent of diversification in its student population.
The objective of universal access to quality education for all is a major concern
both from a global perspective (such as the SDG 4) and from the nation-state
perspective. This objective is often accompanied by the efficiency myth. The
Chapter by Mor Zahavi, Iris BenDavid-Hadar, and Joseph Klein is concerned with
the following timely questions: Is the provision of quality education for all efficient?
And, does locational choice increase efficiency? This Chapter discusses the impact
of choice on efficiency suggesting a new perspective on the Tiebout Model, and
developing an innovative indicator for measuring efficiency. The findings reveal a
small impact of choice on efficiency. These findings might assist policymakers who
aspire to increase educational efficiency to understand why choice might not be the
way to do so.
The Chapter by Iris BenDavid-Hadar and Yaniv Hadad examine the relationships
between financial education and consumer culture of children classified as tradi-
tional or technological learners in the early grades of the primary school level and
the financial education impact of equality. Financial education is a key process in
the development of knowledge, abilities and life skills that enable effective decision-
making in important intersections along life. Financial education for children
may reduce economic and social inequality. The findings indicate that students
characterized as digital learners developed better consumption habits compared
with traditional students. Financial education empowers this connection. Students
who attended the financial education class improved their spending habits compared
with their counterparts. This chapter concludes that developing a financial education
curriculum for young children might be a key for reducing economic inequality.
Finally, the Chapter by Iris BenDavid-Hadar outlines possible future directions
for the field. Changes in the world pose new challenges to the field of education
12 I. BenDavid-Hadar

finance. One such challenge is posed by the increasing trend of global migration,
as a result of political changes, hunger, war, or other distress conditions (UNHCR,
2014, 2015). The emerging and incremental trend regarding the total numbers of
refugees and asylum seekers in the world has challenged the ability of many nation-
states to address the financial aspects of the right to education from an equitable
point of view. It has also depicted, in a different light, the questions of what the right
of education means, financially, what is fair, effective, efficient, and just, and what
the trade-offs are. This reality extends the lens of the finance of education research
to the international level and collaborative aid, and opens an important venue for
future work.
The new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2030 indeed address education.
The fourth goal directly relates to it as it aspires to “ensure inclusive and equitable
quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all” (United
Nations General Assembly, 2015, p. 19). In other words, SDG 4 highlights the
importance of education and learning for all from a global perspective as well as
the shift from a policy that is focused on local nation-state towards an international
or a more global policy that is still emerging. This initiative opens an important
venue for future work on equitable education for all.

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Part I
Education Finance
School Finance Policy and Justice

Iris BenDavid-Hadar

Abstract The contemporary era of globalization and the shift towards the
knowledge-based economy challenge the nation-state education finance policy.
The increasing need to achieve and sustain competitiveness and, at the same
time, maintain social cohesiveness challenge the method by which the nation-state
finances its educational system. The academic and public discourse have perceived
these two goals of competiveness and cohesiveness as contradictory. This chapter
claims the opposite. Common strategies that are used to achieve both goals are
reviewed in this chapter, and an alternative approach is developed.
This chapter conceptualizes the relationships between education finance princi-
ples and justice. It examines different theories of justice (e.g., Plato, Rawls) and
analyzes underlying funding principles of the right to education within the frame-
work of state competitiveness and social cohesiveness. This examination reveals
that alternative funding principles are in line with different theories of justice.
This, in turn, legitimizes alternative decisions regarding redistribution mechanisms
perceived as just or unjust. Each of the alternative principles is measured using
a different approach of the meaning of resource allocation to education. Finally,
an alternative approach of improvement is discussed. This approach dispels the
common Trade-Off view and suggests that both competitiveness and cohesion might
be achieved using a composite concept comprised of improvement and equity for
allocating educational funds.

Keywords Education finance · Policy · Equity · Fairness

I. BenDavid-Hadar ()
School of Education, Bar Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel
e-mail: Iris.hadar@biu.ac.il

© Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature 2018 19


I. BenDavid-Hadar (eds.), Education Finance, Equality, and Equity,
Education, Equity, Economy 5, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-90388-0_2
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thinner than when I last saw you; and, it may be, less the heroine,
since there has been less to oppose me. But I hate sea voyages!
Oh sweet Valentine! hasten to us! hasten and bring to me my Lucy!
thou shalt then be crowned as the harbinger of spring and Horace.
Tell my “lily,” that we expect no tears nor sighs. She is desired to
wear the same face she did with her lilac ribbands. We are all
learning to be philosophers, except Malcolm, who is daily in danger
of losing his good humour; and rates the work people for not being at
Wenland, at the same time that they are here. I believe in my
conscience that Miss Hardcastle and Miss Howard might sleep in the
stable for him. But we do not mind his pouting; and your apartment,
which was Miss Flint’s, is to be made worthy of the captain’s guests.
Adieu, my dear girl; the good people here send their blessings with

Rachel Cowley’s.
CHAP. XIII.

LETTER LXXVI.
From Miss Cowley to Miss Hardcastle.
January 24.

My dear Lucy will not expect to find me in the broad road of folly and
laughter, with so many admonitions of wisdom as I have of late been
favoured with; I repeat the word favoured; for poor and weak must
be the mind which does not profit from such lessons as I have had to
study! Do not, however, take the alarm; I hope, I shall escape
dullness, although I am become somewhat graver than in the days of
my flippancy, and rude health. My poor Horace! But I dare not trust
myself with the subject! But is it not wonderful that no one can be
found to comfort the Earl of S——, but his son’s friend, whose heart
is pierced with an anguish as bitter and acute as his own! I am
selfish, I am ashamed to tell you that I am become fretful and
nervous. You must come, my Lucy; I want you to sustain and to chide
me. My spirits are weakened, and my mind is assailed by
apprehensions which I dare not give to you. This news from Lisbon
has been hurtful to me. I send you enclosed a letter which may make
you smile: it did not move a muscle in my face. Lady Maclairn
undertook to reply to it for me. She was obliged to answer a letter of
condolence which Mrs. Serge thought it polite to send to her “dear
cousin.” I believe her ladyship hazarded to give her correspondent a
little wholesome advice, which will be well for her if she understands
its value. Mrs. Heartley has received letters from her son Henry; he is
coming home. His friend’s death, with his dying advice to the young
man, make only a part of those motives which induce Henry to quit
his present situation. Mr. Bembridge, the deceased, has left him an
estate in Berkshire of three hundred pounds per annum; and Henry
wisely thinks, that with this provision and Mary Howard, he shall be
as rich as a Nabob, with a ruined constitution, and twenty lacks of
rupees. “He will have letters before he embarks, which will dash from
his lips this cup of happiness,” observed the anxious mother. “Miss
Howard is now in a very different situation from that, under which
my poor boy vowed to live, and to labour for her. I would not on any
account have the captain made acquainted with my son’s hopes. He
thinks Henry is right to return home; but I now wish him to remain
where he is for a few years.” “Leave him to Providence,” replied I,
“and enjoy the blessings before you. Alice will be soon happy, and
who knows whether one wedding may not be followed by another? a
little money will not spoil Mary Howard, or change Captain Flint’s
nature.” “I shall take care,” observed she thoughtfully, “to prevent
Henry from coming hither; I wish Alice were settled, I should
immediately go to town, and wait there for my son’s arrival.” Cannot
you, Lucy, find out whether Mary’s colour is yet lilac. Alice thinks it
is; but we may be conjecturing on false grounds; for Alice Heartley
and Rachel Cowley are very simple girls; yet I do believe the captain
wishes to see Henry united to him by the tenderest ties. He even
proposed the other day to Malcolm to wait for his brother’s arrival
before he married. Malcolm smiled; but declined the advice.
You saw enough of our doctor, when you were at Farefield, to enter
into the spirit of my allusion, when I call him the sun which cheers
us. We may say with truth that we live in his smiles. Should you
fancy this expression too poetical to suit with Douglass’s stern face, it
is because you have not seen him when with a patient who he thinks
wants comfort more than medicine. Did they inform you that he
never quitted my room during six and thirty hours? Horace will love
him, Lucy, and you will be grateful. Amongst other ingenious
hypotheses which he maintained this morning was one that will
please you; for he proved to demonstration that Miss Cowley “had
the strength of a horse.” He has been scolding me for this last hour;
and has provoked me to laugh at him and myself.
Oh! how tedious are the hours till I hear from you. Mrs. Allen
sends her good wishes with your
Rachel Cowley’s.

P. S. I am well, quite well, Lucy! my cordial in my bosom! Do not


mind a word in this letter. Douglass will triumph. He predicted how
it would be; when the wind blew propitiously.
LETTER LXXVII.
From Mrs. Serge to Miss Cowley.
My Dear Miss Cowley,

It would give me inexpressible concern, could I for a moment


believe that you “himagine” I have forgotten you, or the promise I
made you, when at Farefield Hall. You can be no stranger to the
“hevents” which have taken place in my family since that time; and of
course these will account to you for my “happarent” neglect. I have
endeavoured to practise what I preach, which is more, as Mrs.
Dangle says, than many who are paid for preaching do; for, as I have
said in my letter to Lady Maclairn, I see that nothing good comes
from sorrowing for those who are removed from this world. Death is
appointed for all; and the best thing we can do is to submit to the
loss of our friends and relations, who are summoned away before us.
I dare say the death of Mr. Flamall has made her ladyship very
unhappy, but time will restore her spirits, unless she do as my Jerry
“do,” yield to grief, and mope in her room. My kind friend, Mrs.
Dangle, would not permit me to remain at Putney, where it was
impossible I could have recovered my spirits. She has a charming
house in the Haymarket; and since I have been her guest, I am much
better; and indeed should be quite well, were it not for the vexation
Nora “give” me. You will be quite astonished to see the halteration a
few months of matrimony “have” made in her; and it will give you a
dread of love matches! But I would not discourage you. Nora “have”
only to thank herself for all that “have” happened to disturb her.
Captain Fairly is not to blame, because his wife is jealous; nor Mrs.
Dangle, because her constant good humour “make” her the favourite
with hevery gentleman. But Nora was always perverse in her temper!
she can be heasy no where now, but at Putney. When single, she
detested the place. She have been very ill; and her disappointment
have perhaps made her lower in spirits; but, as I tell her, “the worse
luck now, the better in future.” She may have children enow by the
time she is forty.
I hope, my dear Miss Cowley, nothing will prevent your visit to me
in February. Captain Fairly has, very politely, offered to be your
escort, and desires me to assure you, that he will, with the utmost
pleasure, come to Farefield to fetch you, if you will permit him to
have that honour; but I conclude you will not be allowed to leave
Mrs. Allen behind you; so that you will happoint the captain to meet
you on the road. I shall be very happy to see Mrs. Allen. She will be
nice company for Mr. Serge, in our absence. I promise you, nothing
shall be omitted for your amusement. Mrs. Dangle is quite in polite
life; and she engages to “hintroduce” you every where. You will meet
the best company at her table; for her husband is never happy
without society. There is a Major Ogle in love with you only from
description. He says, that I have entangled his heart, and that he
must be our shadow; therefore, we shall not want for a beau, nor one
that half the women in London are dying for.
I would advise you not to make up any thing when you are for your
journey; it would be only so much labour lost. But it may not be
amiss for you to begin to accustom yourself to fewer petticoats. We
wear here only one. But we have found out vays and means to obviate
the mischief of going unclothed, and we contrive to keep ourselves
warm; but this, as Mrs. Dangle says, is a secret haunter nu; for if the
gentlemen knew you were in the habit of wearing small clothes whilst
single, they might fear for their privileges when you married. You
will be delighted with this charming woman. She is the counter-part
of you, only she has seen more of polite life, since her marriage, than
you have been in the vay of seeing at Farefield; which, to say the
truth, is a sad place for such a young lady as Miss Cowley.
I remain in the expectation of hearing from you the time fixed for
seeing you; and I shall be impatient till I can show you that I am your
affectionate friend,

Lydia Serge.

P. S. You need not be under any fear of meeting that disgrace to


me, Lydia. I have not seen her since her leaving Putney, nor will I
ever again hacknowledge her as my child. Jerry may be as obstinate
as he please. So will I, on this point. You will be astonished to hear,
that he have set up the feller who married her like a gentleman, and
even sent down a postchay for his lady’s use. I see into this malice. It
is all done to spite the captain, whom he hate. I am sorry to say,
Nora’s foolish complaints have done no good. I am sure, I can see
nothing in the captain that would not please any reasonable woman;
and to me, his behaviour is always hattentive and respectful. You
need not shew this letter to my cousin; Sir Murdoch have made her
quite a methodist.
What a shocking end Flamall have made! But he was always as
proud as Lucifer.
CONCLUDING CHAPTER.

Having faithfully performed my pleasing task, and exerted my best


abilities to recommend myself to my readers, I do honestly confess,
that I am gratified by finding that something remains, in which my
services may be useful to their curiosity. Except two letters, from
Miss Cowley to her correspondents at Heathcot, nothing appears of
sufficient consequence to this work, they being confined solely to
Miss Hardcastle’s and Miss Howard’s journey to Farefield; which
they reached in the month of February.
It remains with me, consequently to supply a few pages to this,
otherwise abrupt conclusion of a work, already reprehensible in the
critic’s eye.
My readers may be able to recollect the name of Montrose, the
early friend of Mr. Philip Flint, who, with his sister, the wife of Mr.
Lindsey, shared in his confidence, with the truth and ardour of
youthful zeal and friendship, during his progress to Miss Sinclair’s
heart.
To this gentleman am I at present indebted for a situation in life
which I would not exchange for the most brilliant which this world
has to give. For I am sheltered from “the proud man’s contumely,”
and “the pang which the worthy of the unworthy takes.” I was in my
friend’s hospitable house at the shocking termination of Mr.
Flamall’s life. This event produced many changes in favour of those,
to whom he had been more obnoxious than useful. My brother
Lindsey, was immediately placed in Mr. Flamall’s office, as this
regarded Miss Cowley’s property on the island; and Mr. Flint, with
Counsellor Steadman’s advice and concurrence, relieved her, by an
appeal to Chancery, from the restrictive clauses in her father’s will,
they being her appointed guardians until she was of age.
In the mean time, I was judged capable of educating the young
Cowley’s. Their gentle and interesting mother had formed an
intimacy with my sister Lindsey, during the time they resided under
the same roof, at Mr. Dalrymple’s; and to judge of the future by the
present, these friends will never have but one and the same roof.
In the hours of confidence, which succeeded to their first
acquaintance, Marian informed Mrs. Lindsey, of her motives for
withdrawing from Mr. Flamall’s authority and power, by quitting an
abode she loved. He had importuned her with his passion even
before Mr. Cowley’s death; and she held him in abhorrence and
terror. She made no doubt of the illegality of Mr. Cowley’s will, he
having repeatedly told her that she would find a protector and a
guardian for her sons in Mr. Oliver Flint; and from the moment she
was informed of Mr. Flamall’s authority, she determined never to
lose sight of her children. Mr. Philip Flint befriended her, because
Juba had told him that I was afraid of his uncle. Her entire
concurrence in committing her children to my care; her confidence
in my integrity, led her cheerfully to part with them, and we reached
England in safety; where my trust was sanctioned by their expecting
sister and maternal friend.
From that hour I have experienced the comforts of a home,
endeared to me by all that can give zest to rational pleasure with an
undepraved heart. Montrose was understood as a man to be trusted;
although, to say the truth, my friends appear to be governed by
motives, not unlike Bassanio, when he decides on the casket.—
“Thou meagre lead,
Which rather threat’nest than dost promise aught;
Thy plainness moves me more than eloquence,
And here I chuse.”

In giving up to my discretion her correspondence with Miss


Hardcastle, during her residence at Farefield, Mrs. Hardcastle added
those occurrences which had taken place after the day which
terminated “her captivity.” “You will easily believe,” said she smiling,
“that Counsellor Steadman was as ready to resign the heiress, as I
was to be rid of the plagues of heirship; but Alice was a wife before I
left the hall; and, my dear Lady Maclairn was obliged to confess, that
life has its blessings; and, that the human heart can never want an
inlet to joy, until it has banished affection for others. She was right in
saying this; and she knows, and feels it to be truth. Mary has neither
changed her colours nor her mind with her fortune, and her uncle
prefers Henry Heartley to a rich baronet. We shall see these true
lovers united,” added she, “when at Farefield; and then Sir Murdoch
and his lady, will quit the hall for Wenland Place; where, I
confidently hope, they will find a home of uninterrupted repose.
“The Duke of S——,” continued Mrs. Hardcastle, “finding that my
Horace had enough of the good things of this world; and, well
knowing, he had a recompense in store for himself in Heaven,
contrived to be useful to Mr. Sedley, and by his interest, procured for
him a valuable crown living; and with his money secured to him the
parish, of which his uncle is the pastor, and he still the curate.”
“Such, Mr. Montrose,” added she, with seriousness, “is the present
state and condition of those persons, in whose happiness you are so
interested, and in whose sorrows, you have taken so lively a concern.
If, as you say, the whole tissue of events before you have confirmed
you in your belief of a retributive justice, it is well: as it is displayed
in this scene of action, it may be useful to others; although I am of
opinion, that not a day passes, that does not add to our conviction,
that the sinner is taken in his own snare, and the virtuous kept from
falling by a power beyond our finite reason. But as your intention
and labour will have little aid from fiction, let your fidelity, as an
historian, compensate for the absence of the marvellous. Do not omit
to say, that Philip Flint and Malcolm Maclairn are brothers, whose
hearts are not divided by the ocean which separates them. They live
in hopes of being re-united; but Mr. Flint has inherited from his
grandfather so strong a predilection in favour of the island of
Jamaica, that it would not surprise me, if he remained there until he
could man a ship with his own boys, and freight it with Sinclairs and
Lindseys. I am not quite so solicitous on this subject, as Malcolm,”
added she, “we are happy now at Wenland place: besides, let us be
content. I do not wish my deputy, your sister, to be deserted. She is
kind and gentle to my numerous dependents; and Lindsey is the
sweetener to the sugar he sends us. Heaven be praised,” continued
she, “Cowley’s slaves are yet cherished as men, though unfortunate
men! But I hate the subject.”
To these instructions I have paid due obedience; but I have passed
some weeks at Farefield Hall since writing the above.
And I think it will be no matter of surprise, much less of censure,
that I should indulge myself with a supernumerary page or two, for
the sole purpose of paying my tribute of respect to a character so
much distinguished by Miss Cowley, in her letters to her friend. Mr.
Serge was not forgotten by her, when she became Mrs. Hardcastle.
“You will see my favourite when you go to Farefield,” said she, “and
you will judge of my hasty sketches of the most simple-hearted man
who lives. Supported by the rectitude of his own mind, and a piety
which rests solely on the goodness of God, he has sustained very
severe trials, with a patience and resignation that ought to put
philosophy to the blush. The loss of his favourite daughter, the prop
of his comforts, was followed by the death of Mrs. Fairly, who, in
consequence of a severe cold taken at a place of public amusement,
to which she was reluctantly hurried, after an indisposition of a
dangerous kind, fell into a rapid decline, and was consigned to the
grave before she was one and twenty. Her, giddy, thoughtless mother
was at this melancholy period on a tour of pleasure with Mrs.
Dangle, recently become a widow; and Captain Fairly, with another
military beau were their escorts.
Poor Mr. Serge, assisted by his friends the Tomkins’s, supported
this scene, and without designing to write to his unfeeling son, or to
his foolish misled wife, sheltered his sorrows at his daughter Mrs.
Willet’s, leaving to the public papers to announce to the travellers the
event, which they might have foreseen before they left home. “But
the claims of the disconsolate widow, Mrs. Dangle, could not be
overlooked.” Mr. Maclairn and his wife joined the dejected Mr. Serge
at his daughter Willet’s; and by diverting his thoughts to the final
establishment of this child, they had the satisfaction of seeing him
improve in health and spirits. He had not, however, lost his
resentment in regard to his wife’s desertion; but with firmness
declared, that he meant to give up his house at Putney, and to live
remote from London. With these resolutions he returned to town;
and it appears that he was steady. The lady returned also from her
excursion, somewhat humbled by the reception he gave her; and
probably, shocked by the death of her child, she made concessions
which failed in their effect; for she would not submit to give up her
dear Mrs. Dangle, nor refuse Captain Fairly’s visits—points
obstinately enforced by her husband. He again returned to Mrs.
Willet’s, and found consolation. His grandson amused him; and
“honest William,” as he calls Mr. Willet, hourly rose in his
estimation. Some months passed: he resolutely refused to return
home, without an assurance that he should find his wife willing to
give up her son, Fairly, and Mrs. Dangle’s society. But this poor,
weak, and misguided woman, had too promptly acquired the lessons
they had taught her; and she was hastening on to destruction, when
an accident deprived her of life. A Major Ogle, who had his hopes
and projects, flattered by the age and vexations “of the rich old
taylor,” drove one morning Mrs. Serge an airing in his tandem from
Dangle Park, leaving his friend the noble Captain Fairly to amuse
Mrs. Dangle. Though a proficient in gallantry and gaming, the major
could not manage two high fed and spirited horses. Some linen
drying on a hedge by a cottage, frightened the leader; he became
ungovernable, the carriage was overset, and Mrs. Serge received a
blow on the temple from the horse’s foot, which killed her on the
spot; her admirer was quit with a broken arm. Mr. Serge received the
intelligence of this shocking accident with silent sorrow: he took to
his bed, and Malcolm was soon his nurse. “I have outlived my
feelings!” said the poor man to him; “I dare not tell you what are my
thoughts at this hour; but I sometimes think, it would be sinful to
sorrow, for the loss of a woman, who, had she lived, would have lived
only to have disgraced herself. She is taken from the evil company of
those who have perverted her simplicity, and made her the laugh of
their dissolute hours. But the day will come, when they will
remember having corrupted innocence, and misled ignorance: her
cause, and mine will be heard at a tribunal, they will tremble to
approach.” He now determined on his plans for his future life, and
with his usual munificence left his house and furniture at Putney for
Mrs. Tomkins’s use; and he has from that time resided at Mr.
Wilson’s, in Captain Flint’s deserted apartments; where, in the
comforts of a family attached to him, and in the society of Mrs.
Heartley, who still lives at the Abbey, he is cheerful and contented.
“When you know him,” continued Mrs. Hardcastle, “it will not
surprise you to find him, treated by his friends with an affectionate
fondness, resembling that which is given to a cherished child; but
although he may be called the pest of every house he frequents, such
is the genuine goodness of his nature, that indulgence cannot make
him forward or capricious. He does not even claim the respect due to
his age and station; and whilst the poor around him regard him as
their tutelary divinity, they love him as a neighbour, and he
converses with them like one. His loquacity will amuse you, for he
may be said to think aloud; and his gratitude to those who, in his
own words, “are kind to him,” is displayed by the minutest attention
to their ease. Though he greatly prefers an open carriage to a coach,
he keeps one because his ladies want it in bad weather; and Mrs.
Wilson is not permitted to take cold when she goes to church, for he
insists on using it as a family convenience.”
My recommendations were too powerful to be overlooked by Mr.
Serge. We we were intimate friends in an hour; and it has been a
source both of satisfaction and curiosity to me, to profit from the
frankness and openness of a mind so uncommon. I have seen that
the encroachments of age and natural infirmities may find a barrier,
without the aid of philosophy, and that in a cheerful piety a man may
find a safe refuge from the cold apathy and querulous temper of near
fourscore years, without other aid than his Bible, and a good heart.
Our conversations are long, though desultory. He frequently,
however, talks of his past sorrows and troubles. Speaking of his
daughter, Mrs. Fairly, he observed, “that from the time she married,
she resembled a poor unfledged bird, who had been ensnared within
sight of the nest, and the wing which had cherished her.” “Poor
thing,” added he, “she told me once that her husband had taught her
to love me.” I spoke of his satisfaction in regard to Mr. Willet, with
whom Mr. Maclairn was so pleased. “Yes,” replied he, “thank God,
Lydia is the wife of an honest man. I do not wish him to be such a
gentleman as Fairly. Plain cloth suits me, Mr. Montrose: I have worn
no other, since I was born; except the trimmings are, like Malcolm’s,
of pure gold, they are not ornamental in my opinion: tinsel may
decorate a fool, and set off a knave, whilst it lasts; but it will be for a
very little time. Mark what I tell you; Fairly will die in in a gaol; and
his wife, late Mrs. Dangle, will want bread, and pity into the bargain.
But I forgive them; it is my duty; and like all my Master’s burthens,
easy; for what should I gain by being unforgiving?
The other day he with much jocularity asked me whether the
witnessing so much of conjugal felicity had not put matrimony into
my head? I replied, that, on the contrary, it would probably stamp
me a batchelor for life. “How so,” asked he, “Why,” answered I, “I see
that in this lottery of life, there are some capital prizes; but I am too
poor to hazard any part of my fund of present happiness, lest I spend
my money for a blank, and I am become too ambitious to be
contented with a petty prize.” He laughed, warning me, that I might
change my mind. “For such things do happen,” continued he; “at
your age I was in no hurry to marry, yet when turned of forty, I
married, without consulting my register, or my reason. My good aunt
who lived with me, perceived, I suppose, that I was thinking of
changing my condition, and she was much pleased; recommending
perpetually to my notice, a very worthy young woman of her
acquaintance; but I know not how it fell out, after seeing two or three
times my poor, artless, good humoured Lydia, I was not easy in my
mind; and thought my aunt’s favourite, Miss Welldon, looked of a
fretful temper, and was of too ceremonious a turn for me, though she
was comely, and only six and thirty, which certainly was a more
suitable age for mine, and I might have been comfortable with her. I
soon found that Lydia was too young a wife for me,” continued he,
thoughtfully, “but I loved her, and I well knew what kindness would
do with her. She was contented, and all was peace with us, till she
was perverted by bad company. Whenever, you marry, Mr.
Montrose, take care to know what company the lady keeps; much
depends on that; and avoid a disproportion in years: there is hazard
in trusting too much, in some cases.”
He is very curious in his questions relative to my two pupils, who
are his favourites. “It is all in good time yet,” observed he, “but we
must be careful not to neglect our blessings. My grandson, Jerry, is a
fine boy, and little William very active and promising. Their mother
is an excellent nurse, and Mrs. Maclairn was quite surprised at
seeing her a notable housewife. She has been favoured, Mr.
Montrose. There is a curate and his wife near them, that are
invaluable to these young people; and I will take care that their
goodness shall not be lost. But poor Lydia must not be trusted with
my boys too long. Happily she promises to be a “fruitful vine.” So the
nursing will be transferred. I mean to give my children a good
education, Mr. Montrose. It shall not be my fault, if they lack
knowledge. I cannot reproach myself with having wilfully neglected
my duty; but with a more enlarged knowledge I might have
performed it better, and shunned many errors in conduct. I have, of
late, been of opinion, that I had, in common with other men better
instructed, a capacity that might have been improved by learning;
and I will tell you the reason for this seeming presumption,” added
he, suddenly stopping and facing me; “it is this: that, although I
cannot talk, nor argue like you, and our friends within, yet I very
often comprehend the drift of your discourse, and am entertained by
your debates.” Before I could make any answer to this observation,
Mr. Hardcastle called him, and reminded him of the dampness of the
evening, adding, that he was waited for at the loo-table. He nodded
in sign of obedience, and said to me, “you may think I am vain, but I
must tell you, that I perceive what has brought pam into favour here;
I see all the kindness of their good hearts! It is well for me that I
know that my debts of gratitude will be discharged in full by One who
is able to pay them.” He entered the house, and with bustling
cheerfulness claimed his privilege of sitting next Mrs. Hardcastle.
Should these touches of my pencil be judged injurious to a portrait
already so faithfully delineated by a more skillful hand, I have only to
request the censurer to place the mistake, and others as glaring, to
my account, and to separate them from the labours of a copyist,
whose sole merit is confined to a diligent and honest purpose; and
whose simplicity of heart has, in the presence of the unlearned Mr.
Serge, a hundred times pronounced, that learning would not have
added one line to his stature.
“An honest man’s the noblest work of God.”

It is now more than three years since my manuscript has been in


my writing desk. Already has time shadowed off a portion of those
vivid colours, with which my picture of Farefield Hall then glared.
The death of Lady Maclairn this spring, has saddened every heart;
whilst, from her dying lessons and calm resignation, have resulted a
consolation which all have found useful. Sir Murdoch yielded to Mrs.
Hardcastle’s entreaties, to join her in London soon after this
melancholy event. Again has she been to him the “angel of peace,”
and, with renewed health and spirits, he accompanied the family to
Heathcot in June.
It is at Heathcot, according to Sir Murdoch’s opinion, that Mrs.
Hardcastle must be seen, in order to be justly viewed. I think as he
does; for it is here, and here only, that the vivacity and brilliancy of
her mind, appear to yield to the satisfactions of her heart. She is
always amiable; but at Heathcot she is more placid, more
affectionate, and, to use her own words, “never from home.”
I conceived, that this was the season for renewing my petition
relative to her and Mr. Hardcastle’s letters. I could not succeed. She
saw that I was disappointed. “Be comforted,” said she smiling; “I
will, if you please, formally announce to the public, what will satisfy
half your readers, as well as the best written love letters extant. I can
assert, that Horace Hardcastle is still obstinate in error; and that he
yet worships the idol formed by his own hand; an acquaintance with
its defects, serves only to augment his attachment, for he pretends to
find, even in these, grounds for his faith and motives for his love.”
“But do you not see?” observed I, “how much my moral must lose
in its moral design, by the omission of such letters as yours and Mr.
Hardcastle’s? A passion built on so noble a basis!”——She
interrupted me. “Enough has appeared,” said she, “to justify my
preference and affection for my husband. My principle of conduct is
at the service of my sex. The young cannot adopt a better. The
moment they know, that every approach to vice and libertinism is
contagious, they will shun them, however decorated; and when they
know, that by marrying a fool, their own gold will be mingled with an
alloy which must sink its value and obscure its brightness, they will
be safe, and preserve a heart worthy of a good husband.”
“I cannot help having my fears,” said I, rising, somewhat
discomfited, and taking up my manuscript. “It is so unlike the
popular novels of the day.”——“What should you fear?” replied she,
with eagerness. “Why, misses, in their teens write novels and publish
them. They make, nothing of it.” I laughed, and gravely wished, that I
had their youth and attractions to plead for my folly and failures.
“Nonsense,” cried she, laughing in her turn, I was speaking of their
courage, not of their performances. Imitate them, at least in your
good opinion, of your own talents; and should you, like them, find
you have over-rated your abilities, settle the business, like our friend
Sancho Panza; and say, “que Sancho écuyer cru bien aussi vîte en
Paradis, que Sancho gouverneur.” My father, and the mother of this
family, as you justly stile Mrs. Allen, wish you to print your work.
They think your secret worth knowing, and we admire the skill and
discretion, with which you have contrived to divulge it, with
usefulness to all, and without wounding any. I bowed, and have
obeyed.

FINIS.
NEW NOVELS, &c.
Just Published,

By W. EARLE,
At his Circulating Library, No 47, Albemarle Street, Piccadilly,
and may be had of all other Booksellers in the Kingdom.

1. In 4 Volumes, 12mo. Price 16s. in Boards, Gondez, the Monk;


an Interesting Romance of the Thirteenth Century, by W. H.
Ireland, Author of the Abbess, and other celebrated Novels,
Romances, Legends, &c. and of Vortigern and Rowena,
Henry the Second, and other curious Manuscripts,
attributed to Shakspeare.
2. In 3 Volumes, 12mo. Price 12s. in Boards, The Mad Dog; or
Modern Manners, by a Lady of Fashion.
3. In 3 Volumes, 12mo. Price 3s. 6d. in Boards, Crimes and
Characters, by Mrs. Pilkington, Author of Parental
Duplicity, &c. &c.
4. Octavo, Price 2s. 6d.
A Concise History of the Present State of the Commerce of
Great Britain, with the Continent of Europe, and with
various Parts of the World. Translated from the German of
Dr. Reinhard, Professor in the University of Gotingen,
Knight of the Order of St. Joachim, &c. &c. with copious
explanatory Notes, by J. W. Hucklebridge.

S. Rousseau, Printer,
Wood Street, Spa Fields.
TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES
1. Silently corrected obvious typographical errors and
variations in spelling.
2. Retained archaic, non-standard, and uncertain spellings
as printed.
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