School-based management in the Netherlands: the educational consequences of lump-sum funding

Important changes are taking place in the ways schools are funded in a large number of countries. In by far the majority of cases, these changes involve more freedom at the school level to decide how money should be spent. The Netherlands has had lump-sum funding in vocational secondary education since 1992. This has recently also been in operation in general secondary edu-cation and will soon be introduced in primary education. Not very much is known about how this method of funding works and its consequences. This arti-cle reports on the first study into the relationship between financial position and primary process under this new funding system.