Public School Fees as Hidden Taxation

Abstract

The imposition of public schoolfees may be growing in importance as a supplement to general revenues that support schools. This article considers user charges from the perspective of taxation theory. Its most relevant aspects are the benefit principle, ability-to-pay, yield, neutrality, and administrative costs. Information about schoolfees was gathered from 18 public secondary schools within five districts. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 43 superintendents, principals, and teachers using a purposeful sampling strategy. Interviewees invoked both the benefit and ability-to-pay principles regarding fees and fee waivers. Students were offered more extensive choices, but the imposition of fees probably distorted their selection. Administrative costs were incurred through extensive collection arrangements, some burden on teachers, and problems of compliance. In general, taxation theory provided an appropriate framework for this inquiry, and the interview technique was a very useful method to gain knowledge about school fees.