Jeonnam Office of Education and KTU Clash: 'Financial Collapse' vs. 'Distortion of Facts' in All-Out Battle Over Budget Bill

KTU Criticizes "Financial Collapse Caused by the 'Three Lacks' in Educational Administration"
Jeonnam Office of Education Responds: "Automatically Calculated Structure... Not True"

The Jeonnam Provincial Office of Education and the Jeonnam branch of the Korean Teachers and Education Workers Union (KTU) continue to clash sharply over the '2026 budget bill.' The Jeonnam Office of Education has dismissed the KTU's claims of a "budget disaster" as a "one-sided attack that distorts the facts," resulting in a direct confrontation between the two sides.

On December 4, the Jeonnam branch of the KTU issued a statement strongly criticizing, "The 2026 budget bill of the Jeonnam Office of Education is a classic example of financial collapse caused by incompetence and lack of planning in educational administration."

The KTU claims that a significant reduction in educational grants and the effective depletion of stabilization funds are undermining the foundation of school operations. The union further criticized, "This is a structural failure created by a lack of management, capability, and philosophy-the so-called 'three lacks'-and a result of impoverished philosophy."

Jeonnam Provincial Office of Education Building View

In response, the Jeonnam Office of Education immediately issued a rebuttal, stating, "Much of the union's claims do not reflect the facts."

The office denied the KTU's core assertion of a "113 billion won cut in general educational grants."

According to the office, the actual reduction compared to last year's main budget is 78.3 billion won. They emphasized that this figure is automatically calculated based on 20.79% of national tax revenue, reflecting the number of schools, students, and classes, leaving no room for intervention by local education offices.

Regarding the KTU's point about a "48.3 billion won reduction in special grants," the office explained that this was simply "not yet reflected." Because the Ministry of Education's grant was delayed until October 27, 2023, it was omitted from the main budget, but the full amount is scheduled to be included between January and February 2026.

In response to the KTU's claim that "1.3 trillion won in stabilization funds was squandered during the fourth popularly elected administration," the office countered, "Due to repeated government tax revenue re-estimates, general educational grants decreased by 970.3 billion won over three years, making the use of the funds unavoidable."

According to the office, reductions amounted to 623.9 billion won in 2023, 237.8 billion won in 2024, and 108.6 billion won in 2025, totaling a loss of 970.3 billion won. The accumulated funds consisted of 440 billion won in the Integrated Fiscal Stabilization Fund and 922.3 billion won in the Educational Facility Environment Improvement Fund, for a total of 1.3623 trillion won, with the remainder used for improving aging school facilities.

Regarding the KTU's criticism that "budget cuts were concentrated on schools and education support offices," the office replied, "Basic operating expenses and foundational academic budgets necessary for normal school operation have been maintained or increased at last year's level."

The office explained, "The apparent decrease in school budgets is because projects previously managed directly by schools have been reorganized to be executed by the main office and local offices to reduce administrative work. The same applies to certain projects, such as teacher research funds, which have been allocated to the main office for the same reason." Regarding the increased proportion of the main office budget, they stated, "This is due to increased personnel expenses for staff (3.5%) and large-scale projects such as the establishment of new schools, which are fixed costs."

Regarding the KTU's concerns about the lack of budget allocations for "classroom instruction improvement," "support for students with reading difficulties," and "sexual violence and school violence prevention education," the office explained, "This is due to delays in the special grant allocation plans, and support will be provided without issue through pre-budget arrangements in January and February of this year." The office also explained that the decrease in the "ICT-based educational support" budget was "because the legal status of digital textbooks as educational materials has been downgraded, resulting in reduced subscription and device expansion costs."

Regarding the significant expansion of some main office departments and project budgets, the office stated, "This is a result of organizational restructuring and the initiation of new projects. In particular, the increase in the education facilities and budget is because the budget for the former Green Smart Initiative Task Force was integrated into the education facilities department."

The Jeonnam branch of the KTU insisted, "Instead of hiding behind the excuse of unavoidable cuts, the office must take clear responsibility and correct what went wrong, rather than making poor and immature excuses."

In relation to this, an official from the Jeonnam Office of Education stated, "Despite difficult financial conditions, the budget was drawn up with the highest priority on restoring the essence of education and ensuring fiscal soundness, rather than excessively expanding the budget in response to external factors. Before discussing incompetence or mismanagement, it is important to understand that these are unavoidable circumstances resulting from government policy, and to first verify the facts accurately."