Financial Decision Making in Four New Zealand Secondary Schools

This study investigates financial decision making in four mid to low decile Auckland secondary schools. Before the advent of education administration reforms in the late 1980’s state schools in New Zealand had little exposure to financial management practices. Currently there is little research examining financial decision making in the New Zealand secondary school setting. This study adopted a qualitative approach in the form of a study of the four schools. Participants were involved through semi-structured interviews of each of the principals and a questionnaire for the middle managers. Four research questions guided this study: What kind of financial decisions do educational leaders make in relation to resourcing teaching and learning? What strategies are used by educational leaders when making financial decisions? How are financial decisions evaluated by educational leaders? What are the issues and challenges facing educational leaders when making financial decisions? The findings revealed four key themes; firstly the devolvement of financial decisio