| Abstract [eng] |
This thesis examines why schools are being reorganized in some Lithuanian municipalities and not in others, considering objective demographic, economic, and educational quality factors. To answer this question, the Dubysos Aukštupio School of Šiauliai District Municipality and Liubavo Juozo Montvilos Basic School of Kalvarija Municipality were selected for the comparative analysis. The decisions of local politicians to reorganize schools were examined based on public choice theory. This theory emphasizes the rational behaviour of politicians and bureaucrats who seek to maximize personal gain. In addition, the concept of multi-level governance has been used to examine the distribution of political power and the interaction between different actors in the education system. The empirical analysis rests on 22 semi-structured interviews with representatives of Šiauliai and Kalvarija municipalities and communities of selected schools. The empirical analysis allowed to evaluate the significance of the variables provided in the hypotheses. Firstly, decisions on the reorganization of schools are largely driven by the desire of politicians to avoid unpopular decisions about the political cycle. Calculating political costs encourages politicians to advocate for the absolute preservation of schools, and reorganization is chosen as an alternative to complete liquidation. Therefore, the first hypothesis (H1) that local politicians will tend to preserve the school, i. e. maintain its current structure, as such a solution will help to be re-elected may be considered supported. Second, municipal decisions reorganize schools are partly driven by financial deductions. On the one hand, the reorganization of schools leads to savings in the funds allocated by the municipalities. On the other hand, the establishment of a single legal entity may lead to lower state allocations, which may prevent municipalities from reorganizing schools. Considering this, the second hypothesis (H2) that local politicians will tend to reorganize the school, as this will allow the use of available financial resources (budget) to be optimized may be considered partially supported. Third, ensuring a good quality education does not have a significant impact on politicians’ decisions regarding school reorganization. In the context of school reorganization, municipalities consider the availability of education, demographic, and economic factors, therefore the quality of education is not a decisive factor. Overall, the influence of politicians in achieving good quality education was observed to be relatively insignificant. The school cases analysed illustrate that the focus of politicians on good quality education depends on the level of involvement of the school community. Thus, the third hypothesis (H3) that local politicians will tend to reorganize the school if it does not provide good quality education may be considered unsupported. Thereby, the analysis shows that the optimization of financial resources emerged as a decisive factor in the analysed municipalities making different decisions on the reorganization of schools. Based on the results of empirical analysis, the chosen theoretical framework is partly appropriate, as the hypothesis (H3) based on the concept of multi-level governance has not been supported. Meanwhile, regarding the theory of public choice, it can be argued that this thesis contributes to the examples of its applicability in the field of education. In addition, the following ideas could be proposed for future research. First, considering that Šiauliai District Municipality has established another joint school, it is recommended to perform a comparative analysis of joint schools in the future. The analysis would allow analysing in detail the applicability of the school networking principle in the context of the Lithuanian school network and the necessary conditions for its successful operation. [...]. |
