1. Centralized Market-Driven Funding Policy in British Columbia Implications for Equity, Social Justice and Local Decision Making Wendy Poole and Gerald Fallon, UBC

2. Purpose of the Study To examine government policy that encourages the establishment of entrepreneurial (market-driven) education finance mechanisms at the school district level in BC Limited to a comparison of levels of revenue generated from international student tuition Discussion of the implications for equity, social justice and participatory democracy at the local level

3. Theoretical Perspective Contextualized within globalized neo-liberal education policy and social justice as defined by Fraser (1995) o Social justice has economic and cultural dimensions o Economic dimension of social justice in education includes the ways in which schools are funded o Inequities in funding are interconnected with social injustices by impeding equal participation in making substantive decisions in the education system

4. Context for the Study Liberal government elected in BC in 2001 Enacted a new policy direction (neo-liberalism) Opened boundaries between school catchment areas and districts to encourage competition Implemented spending restraints that created structural underfunding over more than a decade Moved to enrolment-driven funding formula Enabled school districts to engage in entrepreneurial activities to generate supplementary funding

5. Methodology Critical document analysis Sources of data: Financial documents from school districts, government and non-governmental organizations Analysis: o Compared average levels of international student tuition (IST) generated annually from 2007-2012 o Additional comparison of IST in relation to geographical location, community affluence, and student composition

6. Summary of Findings: Intersections between international student tuition (IST) per capita, community affluence, proportion of Aboriginal students, and geographical location Community Affluence % Aboriginal Students Geographical Location IST per FTE Student

7. Implications Privatization within an otherwise fully-funded public education system. Cultural-economic social injustice. Reproduction and exacerbation of hierarchies of social privilege and marginalization. Ethics of market-driven education finance in relation to participatory democracy at the local level.