From equitable funding to equality of educational opportunity: The Israeli case

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationships between the distribution of educational funds allocated by the central government and the educational achievement distribution (EAD) at the primary school level. To this end, the extent of equity in education funding, and the extent of the equality of educational opportunity (EEO) in the EAD is analyzed. Finally, the relationships between equitable funding and EEO are investigated. Regression models (for the overall population, the Hebrew-speaking schools, and the Arabic-speaking schools) were used to analyze equity. The Ministry-of-Education data sets consist of national examination scores and funds allocated by the central government, the background characteristics of fifth grade students in Israel, were matched at the school level. Findings reveal resources are allocated more equitably to the Hebrew-speaking schools compared with Arabic-speaking schools. Additionally, a low extent of EEO in the EAD of the entire student population was revealed, for all examined subjects, with the exception of literacy. Finally, a positive relationship was found between equitable funding and EEO, while controlling for students’ demographics and background characteristics.