Three teacher groups push back against proposed education grant overhaul

Three major teacher organizations pushed back Wednesday against the government's discussions on overhauling the local education finance grant system, warning that the process must not become a pretext for cutting education funding.

The three groups — the Korean Federation of Teachers' Associations, the Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union, and the Korean Teachers Union — held a joint press conference in front of the Government Seoul Building in Jongno-gu on Wednesday morning, urging the government to halt discussions on reducing the local education finance grant and to strengthen the state's responsibility for public education. The event was held ahead of a public forum on the need to reform the education grant system, organized by the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Planning and Budget.

The groups said the public forum must not be used to justify cutting education funding by pointing to declining student enrollment. "If this is a process that has already reached its conclusion and is simply pushing through a reform of the local education finance grant, then it is not a genuine public debate — it is merely a formality to roll back public education funding," they said.

The organizations said the local education finance grant is not simply a budget allocation mechanism but the institutional foundation of the state's responsibility to guarantee basic educational conditions for all students. "Undermining this foundation means undermining schools, and undermining the conditions for students' learning and teachers' work," they said.

The groups said student enrollment figures alone cannot determine education funding levels. "Even as student numbers fall, schools must continue to operate, and classrooms, cafeterias, libraries, science labs, after-school care rooms, counseling rooms and special education classrooms must be maintained," they said.

They added that schools' responsibilities — covering foundational academic skills, special education, counseling, safety and aging facility upgrades — are not shrinking either. "What is needed now is not a cut to education funding but a new fiscal standard that reflects actual educational demand, including the number of schools, the number of classes, regional education infrastructure, special education and foundational learning support," they said.

Park Young-hwan, chairman of the Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union, said the debate over reducing the local education finance grant is not a matter of numbers but a matter of classrooms. "When education funding is cut, the first thing to go is actual educational activity on the ground," Park said. He added that cuts to teaching materials, foundational learning support, and counseling and safety services would ultimately shift the burden of fiscal reduction onto students.

Song Su-yeon, chairwoman of the Korean Teachers Union, said personnel and operating costs do not fall proportionally when student numbers decline. "A significant portion of education funding covers teacher salaries and the essential fixed costs of running schools," Song said. She noted that about 70 percent of the grant is spent on personnel costs, and that schools paid 726 billion won ($476 million) in electricity bills last year. "You cannot demolish school buildings just because student numbers have dropped, and you cannot cut teachers overnight," she said.

The three groups also criticized the government for pursuing new policy initiatives — including an extended care program, digital education, foundational learning guarantees and a student-tailored integrated support system — while expecting them to be funded from within the existing education grant. "The pattern in which the central government announces policies and schools bear the burden must not continue," they said. "If the state is driving a policy, the state must be responsible for it."

They further said the Ministry of Education should act as the guardian of public education funding rather than negotiate away resources with the Ministry of Planning and Budget. "The funding for early childhood, primary and secondary education must not be made to absorb the financial burden of higher education, lifelong education and childcare facility support as well," they added.

The three organizations called on the government to halt discussions on reducing the local education finance grant on the grounds of declining enrollment, guarantee the stability and predictability of funding for early childhood, primary and secondary education, establish fiscal standards that reflect actual educational demand, secure separate national funding for higher education, lifelong education and childcare facility support, and take separate funding responsibility for national policy projects such as the extended care program and digital education initiatives.