Page 23 - Azerbaijan State University of Economics

Dana Ondrušková , Richard Pospíšil: A Comparative Study of Teacher’s Salary Formula
Methods, Case of Regional School Funding

We have seen that the previous student basket formula attributed to these schools only
the increase of by 1-4 % even though they were supposed to maintain the number of
classes and teaching hours. After the implementation of school funding reform, the
smaller schools were compensated. Their income increased by 29 to 34 % in
comparison with bigger school units with more students, their increase in funding the
salaries was around 18 %. The scale of variable components included in the Phmax
formula enables to cover and adjust different components of the salary - both
compulsory and extra pay salary for management, educational advisory services and
supplementary pedagogical services. The salary grades are considered as well, which
could be quite an important aspect as the lowest and highest grade differs by about one
third, considering the rising age of teachers. New coming teachers need mentor support
and supervision of their more experienced colleagues which is as well considered in
Phmax formula. Last but not least the Phmax involves the specific needs of the
curriculum in the variable of teaching lessons per one class and the school as a whole. It
is important to remind that the research focused mainly on the first year going on new
founding principles. The second year (2021) demonstrated equal rise in salary and does
not reflect any differences between the schools. This can mean that for coming years the
changes will follow the data from previous year. Anyhow the flexible budgeting
principles are not limited by the facts mentioned above. The method of the Phmax
calculation is able to ensure that the funding cannot be cut below a sufficient level on
average. From this point of view, the structural changes comprising the demographic
development as well as the long term school programme and field structure planning
must be executed on the regional levels taking into account the clear objectives coming
from the central level. They should be in accordance with the overall policy strategies of
the country but above all, it is highly important to reflect the local particularities of the
region. That´s why the regional authorities should work on the long term strategies of
the educational policy in the region taking into account the demographic prospective.
Setting the right goals requires comprehensive information and communication on all
levels of the process: school units – regional authorities – central authority. Data
relevant for effective long term school planning are split across levels of governance and
different institutions. At this time the construction of Phmax formula serves to guarantee
the level of financial resources for each school unit as described above taking into
account students´ and teachers´ specific variables as well as previous financial flows.
The Phmax formula does neither deal with the long-term setup of the schools nor the
strategic planning. These areas of interest require a set of governance arrangements and
split responsibilities based on the existing data on different aspects. From these points of
view both hypothesis set at the beginning are confirmed.

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