Appropriate education: pressure or leisure?
Explaining the perceptions of red tape of
Dutch secondary school principals
Appropriate education: pressure or leisure?
Explaining the perceptions of red tape of Dutch secondary school principalsVenne Vrijburg (S1158694) Leiden University
Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs Institute of Public Administration
Specialization Public Management (MSc)
Dr. J. Schalk Supervisor
Dr. P.E.A. van den Bekerom Second reader
11 June 2018
Source image frontpage: Australian Childcare Alliance, on https://nsw.childcarealliance.org.au/news/173-proposed-changes-to-childcare-regulations-and-reductions-in-red-tape. Copyright unknown.
Preface
This thesis is my final work of the master’s specialization Public Management at Leiden University. It presents the results of a study into the experiences of Dutch secondary school principals. Specifically, I examined their networking behavior and their perceptions of excessive regulation: two things they are quite familiar with in their daily job.
Doing this study was a true learning experience, and it also motivated me even more to contribute to a better society. In that respect, the decision to study public administration has been a very good one. During my internship at the Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment, where I became acquainted with making policy in practice, I experienced that there rarely was complete agreement with interest and professional groups on the direction of proposed policy. This made me interested in a study into the experiences of people who have to execute policy what has caught criticism in recent years. In particular the Dutch education sector, where the implementation of appropriate education led to a great deal of commotion among teachers but also other professionals, caught my eye. As I consider education to be the passport to the future, I hope to contribute to steering education in the right direction through this study.
I wish to thank my supervisor, Dr. Jelmer Schalk, for being very supportive and giving me constructive feedback on the different drafts of my thesis. My gratitude also goes to Dr. Petra van den Bekerom for her commitment as second reader. In addition, I am very grateful to all respondents who made time for providing me valuable information. Finally, this thesis could not have been written without the encouragement of my loving family and friends. You have helped me to keep working on my thesis, but at the right moments you also directed my attention to other activities. Thank you.
Venne Vrijburg The Hague, June 2018
Content
Abstract 6
List of abbreviations, figures and tables 7
1. Introduction 9 1.1 Problem indication 9 1.1.1 Research goal 11 1.1.2 Research question 11 1.2 Relevance 11 1.2.1 Societal relevance 11 1.2.2 Scientific relevance 12 1.3 Reading guide 12 2. Theoretical framework 14 2.1 Literature review 14
2.1.1 The origin and rise of red tape research 14
2.1.2 Formalization 15
2.1.3 Organizational context 17
2.1.4 Types of red tape 18
2.1.5 The effect of managerial networking on red tape 19
2.2 Definition of concepts 22
2.3 Conceptual model 22
3. Empirical context 24
3.1 The Dutch education system 24
3.1.1 Educational levels 24
3.1.2 Junior and senior high school 25
3.1.3 Special needs education 25
3.2 Education laws and regulations 26
3.2.1 Dutch law concerning education 26
3.2.2 Regulations on appropriate education 27
3.3 Partnerships for appropriate education 28
3.3.1 Tasks of the partnerships 28
3.3.2 Divisions of schools and budget 29
3.3.3 Cooperation with partners 30
4. Methodology 31 4.1 Case selection 31 4.2 Operationalization 33 4.3 Data collection 33 4.3.1 Interviews 33 4.3.2 Respondents 35 4.4 Data analysis 36 4.4.1 Transcripts 36 4.4.2 Grounded theory 36
5. Analysis 38
5.1 Initial findings 38
5.1.1 Characteristics of selected respondents and schools 38
5.1.2 Basic and extra support 40
5.2 Core findings 41
5.2.1 Managerial networking 41
5.2.2 Perceptual red tape 47
5.2.3 Formalization 51
5.2.4 Organizational context 52
5.2.5 The effect of managerial networking on perceptual red tape 53 5.2.6 The effect of formalization and organizational context 54
6. Conclusion 57
6.1 Answering the research question 55
6.2 Discussion 55
6.2.1 Reflections on the study 55
6.2.2 Contributions and limitations 56
6.2.3 Directions for practice 57
6.2.4 Directions for future research 58
Literature list 59
Appendixes 64
I. Respondent e-mail (in Dutch) 64
II. Logbook data collection 65
Abstract
With the Law on Appropriate Education in 2014, secondary schools in the Netherlands have become responsible for finding the best suitable educational environment for every pupil, including those described previously as having ‘special needs’. Regional alliances (partnerships) are formed to divide budgets for pupils with extra educational needs, in which the involvement of school principals is included. One of the objectives from the Dutch government to do this was to reduce the amount of red tape. To find out whether this objective indeed has been achieved, the relationship between managerial networking and red tape is investigated. More specifically, it is studied to what extent managerial networking explains the level of perceived red tape concerning ‘appropriate education’ (Dutch: Passend Onderwijs). To examine this association, and the possible influences of formalization and organizational context, 10 interviews were conducted with school principals that are affiliated with the same partnership in the region around the Dutch city Leiden. The results show that, on basis of this case selection and the conducted interviews, perceptions of red tape concerning appropriate education cannot be explained through managerial networking behavior. Although school principals can have comparable managerial networking behaviors, they do not necessarily perceive a comparable level of red tape. Although this does not entail that the concepts of managerial networking, perceptions of red tape, formalization, and organizational context are not correlated in some way whatsoever, it is recommended to do further research into these topics. For example, selecting multiple partnerships, investigating the relationship between red tape and other aspects, and using mixed research methods could bring future research to a higher level.
Key words: Red tape, managerial networking, appropriate education, formalization, organizational context
List of abbreviations, figures and tables
Abbreviations
AED Ambulante Educatieve Dienst
Ambulatory Educational Service
Cito Centraal Instituut voor Toetsontwikkeling
Central Institute for Test Development
Havo Hoger algemeen voortgezet onderwijs
Senior general secondary education
LGF Leerlinggebonden financiering
Pupil-bound financing
LPO Loket Passend Onderwijs
Box office for appropriate education
OCW Ministerie van Onderwijs, Cultuur en Wetenschap
Ministry of Education, Culture and Science
OPDC Orthopedagogisch didactisch centrum
Orthopedagogical didactic center
OPP Ontwikkelperspectief
Development perspective
Pro Praktijkonderwijs
Practical education
SOP Schoolondersteuningsprofiel
School support profile
SWV Samenwerkingsverband passend onderwijs
Partnership for appropriate education
Vmbo Voorbereidend middelbaar beroepsonderwijs (lwoo, -b, -k, -gl, -t)
Preparatory secondary vocational education
Vo Voortgezet onderwijs
Secondary education
Vso Voortgezet speciaal onderwijs
Secondary special needs education
Vwo Voorbereidend wetenschappelijk onderwijs
Figures
1. Conceptual model 23
2. Solvability SWVVO 2801 relative to average sector 32
Tables
1. Key concepts and their definitions 22
2. Key concepts, definitions, and indicators 34
3. Coding categories and connected key concepts 37
4. Characteristics of selected respondents and schools 39 5. Managerial networking behavior per school principal 42
1. Introduction
The central question in this thesis is to what extent managerial networking affects the perception of red tape. Specifically, the networking behavior and the perceptions of red tape of principals of Dutch secondary schools who are part of the same formal collaborative partnership with respect to ‘special needs education’ are investigated. In this chapter, I will pay attention to the problem indication that motivates this study. Subsequently, the aim and research question of this study will be discussed, as well as the social and scientific relevance of this study.
1.1 Problem indication
In 2004, the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science (Dutch: ‘Ministerie van Onderwijs, Cultuur en Wetenschap’ (OCW)) evaluated the existing facilities in Dutch secondary education and identified a number of bottlenecks. Most importantly, these included the problem of children staying at home for a long time, elongated waiting lists, unnecessary rules and regulations around needs assessments, and insufficient co-operation between stakeholders.1 On 25 June 2004, the cabinet presented the concept of ‘appropriate education’ (Dutch: ‘passend onderwijs’), in order to enable every child to attend a school that provides education suited to their talents and capabilities (Kamerstukken II 2007/2008, 27728, 101). Appropriate education focuses on children who attend mainstream schools, as well as those who need extra assistance. In the latter case, a part of the pupils can get extra educational support at a mainstream school, but some pupils are better off at a special needs school. On 1 August 2014, ten years after the evaluation, a new law was enacted that introduces a ‘duty of care’ (Dutch: ‘zorgplicht’) for all schools. This law implied that schools from that moment on became required to offer every child a suitable school place. This means that the school of preference investigates first if it is able to assist in the special needs of a child. When this is not the case, the school still remains responsible for searching an appropriate school for the initially registered child. By introducing this law, the government sought to achieve multiple goals, namely: appropriate schooling for every child (varying from a mainstream school to a special needs school), schools that have more facilities to provide tailor-made education, a focus on a child’s potential and educational needs instead of a focus on impairments and disabilities, and
no more situations in which children spend long periods at home because schools cannot meet the special needs for them.2
Another aimed policy goal of appropriate education was to reduce the amount of unnecessary regulation and bureaucratic obstacles regarding the care for pupils with special needs. This red tape resulted from criticism on long and complex earlier policy procedures concerning requesting pupil-bound funding (Dutch: ‘rugzakje’ (LGF)) and admittance to special needs education (Kuiper, Dikkers, Ledoux, Van den Berg & Bos, 2015: 1). In the public management literature, the concept of red tape is used when the topic of bureaucratic obstacles is being addressed. This concept generally refers to cumbersome organizational rules and procedures that are frequently associated with government (Rainey, 2009: 226-227). The long and complex policy procedures that came forward in 2004’s evaluation of Dutch education can be linked to the concept of red tape, in a way that both are about the existence of unintended extra rules and procedures that lead to cumbersome scenes.
To achieve the stated goals, the cabinet came up with the idea of forming regional networks. The starting point here was the connection of existing governance structures containing partnerships of primary schools, secondary schools, and regional expertise centers for special needs education (Kamerstukken II 2007/2008, 27728, 101). By the mandated established of networks (and thereby an intensification of co-operation between actors), the Ministry of OCW expected that red tape would diminish in Dutch secondary education. However, this expectation is not fully supported by existing theories about networking in the public management literature. For instance, Bozeman (1993, 2000, cf. Torenvlied & Akkerman, 2012: 447) stated through his external control model that it becomes more likely that miscommunications occur and conflicts arise when a larger number of organizations exist in an organization’s environment which is due to multiple sources of rules, regulations, and procedures causing confusion about and ambivalence of rules. Because of this contradiction, I aim to investigate whether the transformation and intensification of regional partnerships have in fact reduced red tape in the education sector or not. Therefore, the following research goal and research question will be the basis of this study.
2 Government.nl, Appropriate education at primary school, consulted on 27 September 2017, on: http- s://www.government.nl/topics/primary-education/appropriate-education-at-primary-school.
Research goal
The goal of this study is to investigate the empirical relationship between managerial networking and red tape, and to understand why, if at all, this relationship exists. Both variables are often studied topics in the academic field of public administration, but the underlying mechanism is infrequently discussed. Especially in the area of publicly funded education, a better understanding of this relationship could provide valuable insights. This relevance will be discussed further in paragraph 1.2.
Research question
With regard to the stated research goal, the central question of this study is formulated as follows:
To what extent does managerial networking explain the level of perceived red tape concerning appropriate education?
By conducting interviews, managerial networking behavior and perceptions of red tape of secondary school principals are investigated in the context of appropriate education. These data will be collected in order to explain the relationship between these phenomena. In addition, attention is paid to the concepts of formalization and organizational context as possible determinants of the perception of red tape. As there is an implicit understanding in social sciences that actions have consequences and that most of the characteristics of the human condition can be linked directly or indirectly to one or more factors or events that are in some way responsible for that condition, it is useful to take multiple factors into account that are of potential influence (Palinkas, 2014: 541).
1.2 Relevance
Societal relevance
To organize education in The Netherlands as well as possible, policies are made by the government. In particular, the Dutch Ministry of Education (OCW) is responsible for drawing up the preconditions of good education. Besides the vision of policy makers, also the vision of others is important, like of those who have to deal with these established rules in practice on a daily basis. One can assume that a thorough implementation of policies provides more successful results than when no attention is paid to this. This study is socially relevant, as it
charters the experience of school principals who deal with rules regarding appropriate education on their workplace. How they deal with the duty of care partly determines its effectiveness.
Scientific relevance
This study is also scientifically relevant, as it contributes to the development of knowledge of managerial networking and especially red tape in the field of education in The Netherlands. This study has the ambition to contribute to the development of red tape theory. Not long ago there was no red tape research, and now there is. However, the body of work produced by researchers involved in the study of red tape remains poorly developed (Bozeman & Feeney, 2014: 170). In particular, how red tape is caused remains vague. Measurements of red tape in the Dutch education sector, executed by Kohnstamm Instituut in 2015, showed that there are big differences in how red tape is experienced since the implementation of appropriate education.3 This makes this context interesting for more research, because what causes these differing perceptions of red tape at Dutch public schools? In addition, the majority of managerial networking studies have been conducted on the level of public schools (Van den Bekerom, 2016). In school year 2017-2018, almost one million pupils attend secondary education in The Netherlands.4 School principals have an important task as they are responsible for the day-to-day management at their school. To educate this large number of pupils as well as possible, it is of very useful value that scientific research continues to be done in the education sector. In addition, teachers and school principals are too busy with their own tasks to do research. This makes the connection between education and science indispensable. Finally, as we can assume that red tape negatively affects organizational performance, it is desirable to discover how a manager should arrange external network activity in the best way.
1.3 Reading guide
In this chapter, the motives and main question of this study have been addressed. In chapter 2, the theoretical framework of this study will be presented. Findings of earlier studies will be discussed in order to formulate hypotheses about the effect of managerial networking on perceptual red tape. Hereafter, an overview of the educational empirical context in The Netherlands will be provided in chapter 3. Subsequently, the methodological justification of
3 Didactiefonline.nl, Bureaucratie nog niet minder door passend onderwijs, consulted on 19 May 2018, on: http://statline.cbs.nl/StatWeb/publication/?PA=80040ned.
4 Statline.CBS.nl, VO; leerlingen, onderwijssoort in detail, leerjaar, consulted on 19 May 2018, on: http://statline.cbs.nl/StatWeb/publication/?PA=80040ned.
how this study was conducted will be set out in chapter 4. Also, the concepts that are central in this study will be operationalized here. In chapter 5, the results of this study will be presented and analyzed in the light of the formulated research question. Finally, the answer on this question will be provided in the concluding chapter 7. This chapter will end with a reflection on this study and implications for future research through a discussion.
2. Theoretical framework
Chapter 1 addressed that it will be investigated how managerial networking influences red tape. To develop a research design, it is necessary to argue what we mean by these concepts and what is known on the relationship. From the discussion of relevant studies through a literature review, the most appropriate definitions of concepts, and a conceptual model of red tape will be inferred.
2.1 Literature review
This study focuses on red tape in public organizations, and the extent to which managerial networking activity affects the level of red tape. There is a broad variety of perspectives in the public administration literature on these concepts individually, and to a slightly lesser extent on the relationship between them. Therefore, this chapter will provide an overview with the most relevant points for my study. First, the broad concept of red tape will be introduced by setting out the origin and rise of red tape research. By describing the fundamental idea of red tape, an essential step is made before the literature review is expanded further. Second, the concept of formalization as a counterpart of red tape is being discussed. Getting a clear understanding of this concept is important prior to exhaustive research on the concept of red tape, as both are coherent but not to be confused. In the third paragraph, attention is paid to the factor of organizational context. The environment wherein organizations operate can be mutually different, which could result in varied management approaches and levels of effectivity. This also may result in different levels of red tape. Fourth, different types of red tape are shortly introduced in order to discuss the form of external red tape which is being investigated in this study. Red tape occurs in varying forms, which asks for an explanation of these variations. Hereafter, theory about managerial networking as a potential cause of red tape is integrated. By discussing main findings of other studies, the missing pieces in existing research literature will be identified, which in turn indicates the direction of future research.
2.1.1 The origin and rise of red tape research
The key concept in this study is red tape. Although many studies on this phenomenon resulted in diverging definitions, an overall definition of red tape can be given. Red tape is about “rules, regulations and procedures that entail a compliance burden but do not achieve the functional objectives of the organization” (Bozeman, 1993, cf. Bozeman & Anderson, 2016: 737-738).
The figurative idiom of red tape has existed since the sixteenth-century of the British king Henry VIII. Recipients in the British civil service started to refer to complex and unwieldy government rules and pronouncements through this term, because the official documents they processed were bound in red tape (Bozeman & Feeney, 2011: 20). Since then, it took a long time before the concept was intensively studied, as it is the case since the last two decades. The rise of research on red tape may be associated with the 1990s leadership of the of the Clinton-Gore administration in the United States, when the theme of performance became one of the core components in public management (Bozeman & Feeney, 2011: 113). Meier and O’Toole (2011) describe performance as “the achievements of public programs and organizations in terms of the outputs and outcomes that they produce”. Some scholars even speak of a ‘performance movement’ (Radin, 2006), as public organizations in that time explicitly started to improve their functioning through monitoring and evaluating performance-related elements like efficiency and effectiveness. These can be seen as indicators of performance, as efficiency refers to the amount of government output delivered relative to input, and effectiveness is about the degree of successful policy implementation (Rothstein & Teorell, 2008: 182). Nowadays, the question of how performance can be increased can still be seen as one of the core themes in the research field of public administration (Bommer, 1995; Brewer, 2006; Andrews, Boyne & Walker, 2006a, 2006b; Meier & O’Toole, 2013; O’Toole & Meier, 2013; Meier et al., 2015; Andersen, Boesen & Pedersen, 2016). Andersen, Boesen and Pedersen (2016) even speak of performance as possibly the most important concept in public administration.
Despite the fact that the scholarly work connecting red tape research and performance research is limited, it can be stated that red tape may delay efficiency and reduce performance, as individuals in organizations spend time on working with excessive paperwork and tasks that serve no functional purpose. Burdensome rules and procedures, which holds high levels of red tape in organizations, might result in systemic negative effects on performance (Bozeman, 2000; Bozeman & Feeney, 2011: 115). This assumption calls for research on which forms red tape takes, in which organizations it appears specifically, and above all, what causes it.
2.1.2 Formalization
It may seem clear that red tape stands for something that is undesirable and has to be avoided, in order not to negatively affect organizational performance. Red tape is often confused with the concept of formalization, particularly because both concepts concern rules. According to Scott (1987: 33, cf. Bozeman & Feeney, 2011: 23), formalization is broader than just rules, in a way that it examines the wholly organization structure. It stands for “the extent to which rules,
procedures, instructions and communications are written” (Pugh, Hickson, Hinings & Turner, 1969: 75, cf. Bozeman & Feeney, 2011: 23). Scott states that a structure is formalized when roles and behaviors are prescribed through sets of formal rules. Without this, a formal organization cannot exist, because a group’s behavior remains unpredictable, illegitimate, and informal. In this case, Scott points out that a manager has little or no control over the behaviors of employees. Thus, an organization requires a certain degree of formalization in such a way that it operates effectively.
How is the concept of formalization to be linked to red tape? Although the consequences of formalization go well beyond the issue of red tape, it is relevant to have an understanding of how rules evolve and become more formal, before we can get a complete notion of how rules subsequently devolve or become less effective. Stated differently, understanding red tape presupposes an understanding of formalization and organizational context. Given the idea that formalization actually defines an organization, a useful definition of organizational structure is needed. Hall (1991: 48) gives a basic notion by describing it as “the way in which the parts are arranged”. Additionally, he points out that the structure of an organization serves three fundamental functions. First, it shapes organizational outputs and helps to achieve organizational goals. Second, it sets limits and controls certain (individual) behavior of members of the organization. Lastly, it provides a setting for the exercise of authority within the organization, as it signals who is responsible and what the appropriate lines of communication are. In the best case, when these three functions are executed properly, the individual organizational member’s interests converge with those of the collective. In the worst case, i.e., when behavior is not controlled and individual discretion is not constrained, red tape will be created. Hall’s theory highlights the importance of organizational coordination, as it is essential to any organization (1991, cf. Bozeman & Feeney, 2011: 22). Too much coordination leads to inflexible and unwieldy organizations, but on the other hand little can be achieved when organizational members get too much individual freedom. Based on these ideas, it can be concluded that preventing red tape asks for an appropriate trade-off between organizational coordination and individual freedom. Thereby, this conclusion raises the question how the context of an organization affects this trade-off.
Both formalization and red tape are about problems that refer to rules and structure. The difference between them which researchers make is that formalization is neutral, while red tape has a negative connotation (Bozeman & DeHart-Davis, 1999; Bozeman & Kingsley, 1998; Bozeman & Scott, 1996; Pandey & Bretschneider, 1997; Pandey & Scott, 2002, Bozeman & Feeney, 2011: 23-24). A high level of red tape does not necessarily mean that there are also
strong internal controls or vice versa (Bozeman & Loveless, 1987, cf. Bozeman & Feeney, 2011: 24). Highly formalized organizations can have low levels of red tape, and organizations that have weak internal controls can have high levels of red tape. This indicates that a lot of formalization is not always useful when repressing red tape, and that there are other factors that interact with formalization. Besides organizational structure, there can also be looked at organizational context. This will be discussed in the following paragraph.
2.1.3 Organizational context
Organizations have to deal with several contextual aspects: they operate in a certain policy field, they are bound to (financial) resources, they have to take into account demands of the government, and they can struggle with uncertainty. These are only just a few elements that are part of the broad concept of context. ‘Context’ can be seen as more inclusive than ‘organizational environment’; it covers “situational opportunities and constraints that affect the occurrence and meaning of organizational behavior as well as functional relationships between variables” (Johns, 2006: 386, cf. O’Toole & Meier, 2015: 283). Johns (2006: 387) emphasizes this dichotomy between opportunities and constraints, as opportunities permit more latitude for human agency, while constraints are expected to have more inhibiting effects on human agency. When seeking to explain organizational behavior, Bamberger (2008: 840) points out that situational factors such as industry-, sector-, or economy-wide characteristics, and normative and institutional structures and regimes, are to be included (cf. O’Toole & Meier, 2015: 283). In another study, Meier, Winter, O’Toole, Favero & Andersen (2015) call for how much context matters. They compare similar organizations, namely schools, in very different national contexts. The study has a striking result: the difference in the political and governance context in the two countries they compare, the United States and Denmark, can be held responsible for the different impact of both internal and external management on the schools’ performance. In the United States, interactions with the environment are needed in order to deal with negative feedback and to seek additional resources or information, due to the fragmented political system. In contrast, the consensual decision process that can be found in the educational context in Denmark ensures that interactions with the environment generally have no impact. This result demonstrates that not only the degree of red tape matters for the performance of public organizations, but also organizational context.
2.1.4 Types of red tape
Before the most relevant form of red tape for this study will be discussed in this paragraph, also other forms of red tape will be introduced. Studies have been conducted on variants like internal red tape, external red tape, general red tape, and personnel red tape. Also, the types of administrative and perceptual red tape will be briefly introduced.
The most common distinction made when discussing red tape is internal and external. Walker and Brewer (2008) make a distinction between these two types. They pose that the internal variant “refers to bureaucratic rules and routines that cause task delays and negatively affect the internal operations of a public agency”, while the external variant affects the ability of citizens and external stakeholders “to interact with the agency or comply with legal mandates” (Walker & Brewer, 2008: 1118, cf. Bozeman & Feeney, 2011: 94). This distinction indicates that red tape may occur both inside and outside organizations. Bozeman (1993: 295) uses frequently the type of external control red tape, which is especially associated with government organizations, because they have a large number of external controllers that exert legitimate influence and provide rules. An external controller can be something like a parent agency. He defines external control red tape as something that originates externally but has internal organizational impacts. Torenvlied and Akkerman (2012) also investigate external red tape, and especially the levels of it that are reported by managers. For this reason, these data can be categorized as ‘subject-dependent’, as managers report levels of red tape on the basis of their own perceptions (Brewer & Walker, 2010: 122). The chapter concerning methodology will discuss the measurement of perceptions of red tape in a more detailed way. Torenvlied and Akkerman (2012) define external red tape as something which manifests itself outside an organization, mainly as a product of intensive external control and large numbers of diverse stakeholders. Furthermore, they introduce ‘general’ red tape as one of the specific forms of external red tape. General red tape emanates from external national and local government actors. This variant can be created due to managers’ networking activities toward the external organizations that are involved in the creation and application of external rules, regulations and procedures. In this study, the levels of external red tape will be addressed. Managers will be asked about their perceptions on the level of red tape they experience which emerges outside the organization but also has impact on the internal course of events.
Besides the described types of external-, internal-, perceptual-, and general red tape, administrative red tape is also distinguished in some studies (Buchanan, 1975; Pandey & Kingsley, 2000). This kind is based on the administrative delay approach, which indicates the time it takes to measure key managerial tasks (Pandey & Kingsley, 2000: 782). Given this
definition, administrative red tape can rather be seen as a possible measure of red tape than as a self-contained form of red tape, as it is also the case for the perceived level of red tape. For this reason, these forms will be discussed more detailed in the chapter concerning methodology.
2.1.5 The effect of managerial networking on red tape
This study aims to discover if and how managerial networking and red tape are interrelated. As we can assume that red tape negatively affects organizational performance, it is desirable to discover how a manager should arrange external network activity in the best way. This means, to keep the level of red tape as low as possible. In this paragraph, these possible mechanisms will be set out. First, the concept of managerial networking activity will be introduced.
In the paragraph concerning organizational context, both internal and external management are discussed. As Moore (1995) states, internal management can be seen as ‘managing downward’, while external management refers to ‘managing outward’ (cf. Meier et al., 2015: 132). Scholars also have begun to focus on a key component of external management, namely the activity of managerial networking (Agranoff & McGuire, 2001; Provan & Milward, 2001; O’Toole & Meier, 1999). Managerial networking activity can be defined as the contact frequency of relationships that high-ranking managers maintain with external actors and organizations (Torenvlied, Akkerman, Meier & O’Toole, 2012: 251). The activity of networking with a range of outside actors and organizations can be aimed at tapping resources and other opportunities in the organizational environment (Meier et al., 2015: 133).
Some academics investigated the relationship between networking, while not always described as such, and red tape. Bozeman created an external control model to show the effect of external control on an organization’s level of (admittedly internal) red tape. Two factors that play a role here are 1) the distance of controllers and the tightness of their reins, and 2) the characteristics of the organization’s stakeholders (Brewer, Walker, Bozeman, Avellaneda & Brewer Jr., 2012: 5-6). The first factor refers to the extent to which rules are external in origin. The greater the social distance, which indicates differences in organizational culture, guiding practices and norms, and social ties among organizational members, the greater the difficulty to monitor rules. The idea behind this is that organizational members tend to feel less ownership towards externally imposed rules, regulations, and procedures whereby these are more likely to be misapplied or corrupted. This will turn into unnecessary compliance burdens, and so affect
manifestations of red tape (Bozeman & Feeney, 2011: 76, cf. Torenvlied & Akkerman, 2012:
447). In an earlier study, Bozeman (1987) refers also to the point of ownership as one of the three variables that determines the level of publicness. The second factor refers to the
homogeneity and number of an organization’s stakeholders. The larger the number, and especially the more diverse the stakeholders are, the more an organization is prone to red tape. Feeney and Bozeman (2009) studied public managers’ perceptions of red tape and found that this is among other things associated with time spent on managing and communicating with stakeholders. More diversity among stakeholders implicates stronger divergent views, which asks for more time to spend on managing and communicating together before consensus can be reached. Managers save less time to spend on other tasks, whereby achieving the functional objectives of the organization becomes harder and red tape is lurking. Both discussed factors here can be associated with external networking, as they both have to do with multiple organizations that are in a structure of interdependence. In their study, Brewer et al. (2012: 21) rely heavy on managers’ perceptions of external control, red tape and other related concepts.
Other scholars that rely on managerial perceptions of red tape, are Torenvlied and Akkerman (2012), who test among other things to which extent networking activity with external actors and organizations affects the reported levels of externally generated general red tape among Dutch primary school principals. Besides this, they also test the effects of managers’ level of work engagement and commitment to the organization on the perception of red tape. Torenvlied and Akkerman use a dataset set with information about performance of individual schools, and information from a survey among principals of Dutch primary schools. They analyzed two dependent variables for reported red tape:‘general’ red tape and ‘personnel’ red tape. Obviously, the first variable indicates the level of general red tape in the organization, and the second variable indicates for red tape perception. The latter one has more to do with e.g. external rules that eventually affect the functioning of teachers. The study of Torenvlied and Akkerman shows that managerial networking activity has significant effects on reported levels of red tape (2012: 464). First, they show that managers’ commitment to the organization is positively associated with their reported levels of both general and personnel red tape. This result underscores the subject-dependency of reporting red tape and creates the new insight that the downside of a strongly committed manager holds that there may be less tolerant attitude for externally imposed rules and regulations (2012: 463). Another result shows that the intensity of networking activity with national government increases the school principals’ reported levels of (both types of) red tape. Torenvlied and Akkerman suggest that this possibly has to do with contacts with national monitoring and controlling agencies. The distance between school principals and national government organizations is larger than with local government or interest organizations, as the latter ones are easier accessible than national government organizations. Contact with national monitoring and controlling agencies may thereby cause
more frustrations, because it makes school principals more knowledgeable about rule conflicts, misinterpretations and no ownership. This ties in with the idea of controller distance as identified by Brewer et al. (2012). Torenvlied and Akkerman also try to test Bozeman’s assumption concerning the presence of feedback relations between the focal organization and the external organizations that impose rules and regulations. According to Bozeman’s perspective (1993; 2000: 127) managerial networking activities of school principals are expected to provide crucial feedback to school principals about externally imposed rules regulations, and procedures, which moderates the reported levels of red tape.
The big question that rises here is under which conditions a manager should network externally more or rather less. More external networking may lead to a decrease in the level of external red tape, but on the other hand the level of internal red tape may increase. This can happen because a manager can spend less time on internal management. The effectiveness of external networking can also depend on the distance between the manager and the controller, as Torenvlied and Akkerman (2012) argued above. Other possible factors that have to be taken into account are the effects of formalization and organizational context. An increase in the level of formalization could cause the perception that also the level of red tape has increased, especially when the increase of written rules and procedures are not necessarily serving the goals of an organization. Also, organizational context could be of influence in determining the perception of red tape. An environment, like a political system, can be not conducive (with an eye on red tape) when a manager spends a lot of time on external networking. The effects of external networking can be nullified if the political system does not fit in. This study will investigate the effect of managerial networking, but also of formalization and organizational context, on the perceived level of external red tape.
From these ideas, the following hypotheses can be derived. First, the more a manager networks with multiple external actors, the higher the perceptual red tape is. This especially holds when the stakeholders’ views are divergent, because adjusting or adapting sources becomes more difficult. As a result, achievement of organizational goals becomes cumbersome. By expecting that managerial networking and perceptual red tape are positively correlated, it seems logical that less managerial networking leads to a lower perception of red tape. However, it is possible that this is not a correct hypothesis in certain circumstances. A manager may not be occupied with networking activities, while in the end certain requirements have to be met. For instance, organizations that depend on public money or other forms of necessary support must comply with governmental guidelines. Due to the lack of networking, a manager must work hard in order to meet these requirements, with the consequence of a sudden increase of
perceptual red tape. This alternative scenario ensures that a low level of managerial networking activity can cause a high level of perceptual red tape. This relationship will be investigated through empirical research.
2.2 Definition of concepts
Table 1 defines the key concepts of this study. They will be operationalized in paragraph 4.1.
Table 1
Key concepts and their definitions
Key concept Definition
Managerial networking
The contact frequency of relationships that high-ranking managers maintain with external actors and organizations*
Red tape Bureaucratic rules and routines that cause task delays and negatively affect the ability of citizens and external stakeholders to interact with the agency or comply with legal mandates**
Formalization The extent to which rules, procedures, instructions and communications are written***
Organizational context
Situational opportunities and constraints that affect the occurrence and meaning of organizational behavior as well as functional relationships between variables****
Notes. *From: Torenvlied, Akkerman, Meier & O’Toole, 2012: 251.
**From: Walker & Brewer, 2008: 1118, cf. Bozeman & Feeney, 2011: 94.
***From: Pugh, Hickson, Hinings & Turner, 1969: 75, cf. Bozeman & Feeney, 2011: 23. ****From: Johns, 2006: 386, cf. O’Toole & Meier, 2015: 283.
2.3 Conceptual model
Figure 1 consists of a conceptual model that shows the hypothesized connections between the key concepts of this study. As already indicated, these expectations apply to a Dutch secondary school context, and specifically to secondary schools that are part of SWVVO 2801. This makes the expectations and results non-generalizable to schools that are embedded in another partnership. Chapter 4, concerning methodology, will discuss this further.
In this study, managerial networking is considered as the independent variable (X); formalization (C1) and organizational context (C2) as control variables; and perceptual red tape as dependent variable (Y). A positive correlation between X and Y is expected, so a higher level of managerial networking is expected to result in a higher level of perceptual red tape. Control variables formalization and organizational context are expected to influence the
relationship between managerial networking and perceptual red tape in a moderating way. In the case of formalization, this means that when X and Y are related, formalization makes this connection stronger. In the case of organizational context, this is somewhat more difficult because it cannot take multiple values. Therefore, a further distinction can be made between situational opportunities (C2a) and situational constraints (C2b). As it can be expected, based on above discussed theory, that an organizational context with more situational opportunities will result in a lower level of perceptual red tape, the following can be stated: for C2a, the hypothesis is that it reduces the strength of the relationship between X and Y. For C2b, the hypothesis is that it strengthens the relationship between X and Y because more constraints may result in a higher level of perceptual red tape. This results in the following hypotheses: h1: Managerial networking positively affects perceptual red tape;
h2: Formalization reinforces the positive relationship between managerial networking and perceptual red tape;
h3a: Opportunities attenuate the positive relationship between managerial networking and perceptual red tape;
h3b: Constraints reinforce the positive relationship between managerial networking and perceptual red tape.
Figure 1. Conceptual model.
(h3a) - + (h3b)
+ (h1) + (h2) Formalization (C1)
Organizational context (C2)
Perceptual red tape (Y)
Opportunities (C2a) Constraints (C2b) Managerial networking (X)
3. Empirical context
As described in the first chapter, this study focuses on levels of red tape perceived by school principals as a result of managerial networking. Therefore, this chapter will provide background information on education in The Netherlands, in particular the policy reform on appropriate education. First, a general overview will be given of the Dutch education system, with a focus on how secondary education is organized and governed. Second, it will be set out which educational laws and regulations are relevant for this study and how Dutch secondary schools are engaged with them. Third, this chapter will specify into the partnerships that are formed in order to organize appropriate education.
3.1 The Dutch education system
After pupils in The Netherlands finished primary school, they move on to secondary school. Generally, pupils are about 12 years old when they start with secondary school. The secondary education system can be divided into several dimensions. This relates to among other things the educational level, junior and senior high school, and general and special needs education. These dimensions will be described in this paragraph.
3.1.1 Educational levels
There are four levels of secondary education that can be attended. Followed by their abbreviations in Dutch, these are:
Practical education (‘pro’);
Preparatory secondary vocational education (‘vmbo’), which is further divided into the levels of ‘lwoo’, ‘basis’, ‘gemengde leerweg’, ‘kader’, and ‘theoretisch’;
Senior general secondary education (‘havo’);
Pre-university education (‘vwo’), which is further divided into the levels of ‘gymnasium’ and ‘atheneum’.5
In principle, the first type of education prepares pupils directly for the labor market. Pupils who attend education on one of the other three levels usually continue their learning process by
5 Rijksoverheid.nl, Voortgezet Onderwijs, consulted on 22 November 2017, on: https://www.rijksover-
attending senior secondary vocational education (‘mbo’), higher professional education (‘hbo’) or university education (‘wo’). To make sure every pupil chooses a level that suits everyone’s ability, a final test has to be made in the last year of primary school: the Cito test.
3.1.2 Junior and senior high school
For almost every type of secondary education applies that the program can be divided into junior and senior high school (Dutch: ‘onderbouw’ and ‘bovenbouw’). The first years of school are part of junior high school; the last years are attributable to senior high school. Thereby, in junior high school on the level of havo and vwo, pupils follow a broad curriculum after which they can choose one of four subject combinations in senior high school. Pupils that attend a vmbo program choose one profile of multiple sectors. In this way, everyone works towards a specialized profile that prepares for further education and/or a job.
3.1.3 Special needs education
Schools can also be divided into mainstream schools (Dutch: ‘regulier onderwijs’ (VO)) or schools that are organized with the practice of educating students with special educational needs. Pupils that have a physical, intellectual or mental disability can go to a mainstream secondary school with extra assistance, or they can go to a school particularly focused on special needs education (Dutch: ‘speciaal onderwijs’ (VSO)). Since the implementation of the Act on Appropriate Education in 2014, all Dutch secondary schools are organized in a regional network of partnerships (Dutch: ‘samenwerkingsverband’ (SWV)) among other things to make arrangements about which pupils are being referred to a special needs school. In this case, a partnership provides a declaration, a so-called ‘admissibility statement’ (Dutch: ‘toelaatbaarheidsverklaring’ (TLV)), which gives a particular pupil permissibility to a special needs school. Finally, the school board of the special needs education institution determines whether the student is really admitted or not.6 In special needs education, four clusters are distinguishable7:
6 Onderwijsgeschillen.nl, Toelaatbaarheidsverklaring, consulted on 12 April 2018, on: https://onder-
wijsgeschillen.nl/thema/toelaatbaarheidsverklaring.
7 Rijksoverheid.nl, Speciaal Onderwijs, consulted on 22 November 2017, on: https://www.rijksoverh-
Cluster 1: blind and visually impaired children; Cluster 2: deaf and hearing-impaired children;
Cluster 3: motor-disabled, mentally handicapped, and long-term sick children; Cluster 4: children with disorders and behavioral problems.
Cluster 1 and 2 belong to the category of special needs schools; cluster 3 and 4 are, together with mainstream schools, part of the regional partnerships. When a pupil finishes special primary school, usually on the age of 12 just as is the case for mainstream education, it may be considered to continue the learning process on a mainstream secondary school. However, sometimes it is better in several ways to keep children with extra needs in a school that is specially arranged for those matters.8 This applies mostly for pupils as well as for teachers. Pupils that have special needs may have problems with coming along with pupils who do not have special needs. In addition, teachers may lack time and accurate knowledge to meet pupils who have special needs.
3.2 Education laws and regulations
The Dutch legal system has many laws that influence education, both traditional education laws and other laws that are related to this field.9 In this paragraph, the fundaments of education (especially on the legal level) will be described. After the most important laws on education are being set out, the regulations on appropriate education will be discussed. In particular this latter part is of considerable value for this study, but this has no relevance without the context of its predominant legislation.
3.2.1 Dutch law concerning education
In the Dutch constitution that has been established in 1848, the freedom of education is included in Article 23 (Dutch: ‘vrijheid van onderwijs’). The article as we know it today is largely originating from 1917. In that year, a compromise was achieved on the financial equalization of public financing for public and religious schools.10 Besides the constitution, education is legally organized on the basis of sectors and themes. Sectoral laws apply, as the concept
8 AD.nl, Sommige Kinderen zijn Beter af op Speciaal Onderwijs, consulted on 22 November 2017, on:
https://www.ad.nl/binnenland/sommige-kinderen-zijn-beter-af-op-speciaal-onderwijs~a571939b/.
9 OnderwijsConsument.nl, Onderwijswetten, consulted on 24 November 2017, on: http://www.onder-
wijsconsument.nl/onderwijswetten/.
10 DeNederlandseGrondwet.nl, Vrijheid van Onderwijs in de Grondwet, consulted on 22 November
suggests, to the four educational levels, and regulate for each level among other things funding, examination, and objectives. Appropriate education has been processed in the different sectoral laws, while special (secondary) education is regulated in the law on expertise centers (Dutch: ‘Wet op Expertise Centra’). Thematic laws are rather focused on supervision, co-determination, and compulsory education. The law on supervision (Dutch: ‘Wet op het onderwijstoezicht’) prescribes that schools are being monitored by the Inspectorate of Education (Dutch: ‘Onderwijsinspectie’) on compliance of laws.11 In addition, the Inspectorate looks after the quality of education and tasks of among other things the several partnerships that are being formed. The law on co-determination (Dutch: ‘Wet medezeggenschap op scholen’) makes it possible for the members of a council to discuss and give advice on everything concerning a school.12 Finally, in the law on compulsory education (Dutch: ‘Leerplichtwet’) is arranged that every minor child, so under the age of 18, has the duty to go to school. Minor children who are already qualified or graduated are excluded from this duty.
3.2.2 Regulations on appropriate education
As described in chapter 1, with the implementation of the Act on Appropriate Education in 2014, a duty of care was assigned to schools in order to include children as much as possible in mainstream education. The duty of care means that schools are responsible to offer a suitable learning place to every child. To align this, mainstream and special needs schools co-operate in regional alliances to arrange an appropriate learning place: at one of the mainstream schools (eventually with extra support), or at a special needs school. This implies that after a child is signed up for a school, the school has the responsibility to offer an appropriate learning place at its school or at another school for mainstream or special needs education within the regional partnership. The Dutch government indicated that the starting point of appropriate education should be the removal of pupils’ educational limitations, instead of diagnosed disorders.
By introducing the new act, the government abolished the national assessment standards. This means that schools do not have to diagnose disorders by child welfare services anymore before they receive funding for extra educational support or a learning place at a special needs school. These TLV’s are now provided by each partnership. In the following section, more specific information regarding these partnerships will be provided.
11 Wetten.overheid.nl, Wet op het Onderwijstoezicht, consulted on 22 November 2017, on: http://wett-
en.overheid.nl/BWBR0013800/2017-10-01.
12 Wetten.overheid.nl, Wet Medezeggenschap op Scholen, consulted on 22 November 2017, on: http://-
3.3 Partnerships for appropriate education
With the aim of offering every child appropriate education, 152 regional partnerships were formed: 77 for primary education and 75 for secondary education.13 All boards of mainstream and special need schools in The Netherlands, except for schools that are part of cluster 1 and 2, are part of a partnership. In addition, each partnership has its own separate board. Since the start of school year 2014-2015, the partnerships are responsible for the tasks they have been assigned for. In this paragraph, more specified information about the partnerships will be provided, categorized into the following paragraphs: tasks, the divisions of schools and budget, and cooperation with partners.
3.3.1 Tasks of the partnerships
With the introduction of partnerships for appropriate education, new legal duties are constituted.14 Both light and heavy support concerning appropriate education (of cluster 3 and 4) are guaranteed in each school partnership.15 All actors in the partnership together discuss how they organize these different types of care, after which they capture this information in a so-called ‘support plan’ (Dutch: ‘schoolondersteuningsplan’). In addition, agreements are jointly made on the procedures that apply for children who will attend special needs education, how money for extra support is being distributed among the schools, how the quality of education should be for children with special needs, and how parents are being informed about the extra facilities schools have to offer. Before the school support plan is officially established, approval of the municipality (or municipalities) and participation councils is required. First, for municipalities it is useful to know how schools organize their support as youth services are decentralized to the local government since 2015. Second, each participation council (part of each school) has the right to advise the school, and each support plan board (part of the partnership) has the right of consent to the school support plan of the partnership. Besides a common plan, each school makes once every four years its own ‘school support profile’ (Dutch: ‘schoolondersteuningsprofiel’ (SOP)), which describes the extra facilities that a school has to offer. Every school sets up a profile, eventually in co-operation with parents, and according to advice from the school’s participation council. Another legal task for partnerships concerns the
13 PassendOnderwijs.nl, Samenwerkingsverbanden, consulted on 23 November 2017, on: https://www-
passendonderwijs.nl/samenwerkingsverbanden/.
14 Passendonderwijs.nl, Wettelijke taken, consulted on 12 April 2018, on: https://www.passendonderw-
ijs.nl/samenwerkingsverbanden-en-gemeenten/wettelijke-taken/.
15 RegioAtlas.nl, Passend Onderwijs Voortgezet Onderwijs, consulted on 24 November 2017, on: http-
provision of a declaration to transfer a pupil to special needs education, as earlier explained in paragraph 3.1.3. Finally, partnerships are held accountable for their tasks as they have to deliver an annual report and financial statements to inform the national government and other stakeholders about their progress and deployment of resources. These documents depend on the annual reports and financial statements drawn up by the individual schools that participate in the partnership.
3.3.2 Divisions of schools and budget
In order to achieve the best division of networks, some considerations had to be taken into account first. Attempts by the Ministry of OCW have been made to regard the following: the preferences of local authorities, geographical demarcations of municipalities, streams of pupils who switch from primary to secondary school (including special needs schools), the number of pupils a final partnership would contain, equal divisions for primary and secondary schools, and alignment with youth care and the labor market.16 Finally, the decision has been made to let go the idea of making a division of partnerships which is fully in line with municipality boundaries. In the end of 2012, the final division of regions has been published, with the possibility to merge or split when there is enough support in the region. In the ministerial decree of 25 November 2012, the regional divisions of partnerships are officially fixed (Ministeriële
regeling 2012, nr. WJZ/450366 (10285)). In the course of time, some partnerships have
changed in composition due to for example big municipal reorganizations. Also, some school communities consist of multiple school locations. This makes it possible that one school community is affiliated with more than one partnership. Therefore, the overarching school board of the school community has to maintain ties with multiple partnerships in order to organize appropriate education at all school locations.
With the Act on Appropriate Education, also the provision of money became differently organized. Before the implementation, whether a pupil qualified extra support or a place in special needs education or not was assessed by a national indication system. Extra support was financed on a student-related basis and provided directly from national to school level. In the current system, the regional partnerships receive money for extra educational support from the national government.17 An evaluation commission advised to determine the budget for
16 VNG.nl, Indeling van de samenwerkingsverbanden, consulted on 12 April 2018, on: https://vng.nl/f-
iles/vng/indeling_samenwerkingsverbanden.pdf.
17 Rijksoverheid.nl, Bekostiging passend onderwijs, consulted on 12 April 2018, on: https://www.rijks-
partnerships by looking at the number of pupils in each partnership. Because this new calculation leads to another distribution of budget, a transition phase was introduced causing budgets that gradually increase. Full equalization of financial support is planned to be reached around August 2020, which means that till this time the partnerships do not receive relatively equal financial support. This means that at the time of conducting this study, the chosen partnership has another budget than it will receive in a few years.
3.3.3 Cooperation with partners
As described in paragraph 3.2, Dutch schools received the duty of care since the introduction of the Act on Appropriate Education. This duty requires cooperation with multiple external agencies, especially municipalities in which the partnership is localized as they bear responsibility for youth services. It is argued by the Ministry of OCW that local cooperation between partnerships and municipalities creates opportunities as an integral approach solves bottlenecks like fragmentation.18 In this study, it will be investigated how often and with which external partners schools (and school principals in specific) work together in order to organize appropriate education. In the next chapter, a more detailed description will be given on the selected case and its specific characteristics such as budget and external partners.
18 Passendonderwijs.nl, Samenwerking onderwijs en gemeente, consulted on 12 April 2018, on: https:/-
/www.passendonderwijs.nl/over-passend-onderwijs/jeugdhulp/samenwerking-onderwijs-en-gemeente/.
4. Methodology
In chapter 3, background information is provided in order to create a clear understanding of the context from which the case is purposefully sampled. This chapter will elaborate on how the specific empirical case was selected. Subsequently, the key concepts that were defined in chapter 2 will be operationalized. It will also be discussed how the data were collected and how they will be analyzed.
4.1 Case selection
The unit of analysis of this study the school. A small-N comparative case study design was used to meet the objectives of this study and answer the main research question. This research design fits the objective of generating theory (Toshkov, 2016: 258). The partnership for appropriate secondary education, indicated with abbreviations and a serial number as ‘SWVVO 2801’, around the Dutch city Leiden was selected as a case. This alliance is a foundation in which 12 school boards are connected with a total of 26 (mainstream and special) secondary schools in the region of Leiden. As described on their website, the partnership aims at offering suitable education to pupils with special needs which focuses on obtaining a diploma or preparing for a job. In other words, the partnership stands for working together on the future of every young person.19 SWVVO 2801 exists since the nineties, but with the arrival of the Act on Appropriate Education in August 2014, its importance and status has increased. On structural basis, meetings are organized at three formal levels, namely between the affiliated school boards, the school principals and the care coordinators. Because of the size of the partnership, the meetings among the school principals are further divided by the levels that schools offer. In this way, there are separate meetings for principals of vmbo schools, principals for havo/vwo schools and principals for gymnasium schools in order to gather as effective as possible. In addition, SWVVO 2801 has a box office that has been set up to provide consultations to schools when they deal with a transcending problem. This in Dutch so-called ‘Loket Passend Onderwijs’ (LPO) has a service and support task and forms central point for the schools that are part of SWVVO 2801. The LPO thinks along with the school and parents of a pupil when the current school does not will well. In this case, the LPO first examines the possibilities within the own school to keep the pupil there. When the situation seems to be untenable, the LPO can refer the
19 SWVVO2801.nl, Missie en visie, consulted on 8 May 2018, on: https://www.swvvo2801.nl/organis- atie.
pupil to secondary special needs education (VSO), youth care, or a so-called ‘rebound’ provision (Dutch: ‘Orthopedagogisch Didactisch Centrum’ (OPDC)).
SWVVO 2801 was selected as a case for this study because it is considered as a relatively affluent partnership. According to data from the Dutch Education Executive Agency, SWVVO 2801 had a solvency rate of 91% in 2016.20 Because of this, it can be stated that SWVVO 2801 had relatively much money at that time compared to other partnerships in the country. Figure 2 shows the solvency rates in 2014, 2015 and 2016 for SWVVO 2801 that are above average.
Figure 2. Solvability SWVVO 2801 (blue) relative to average sector (green). Source: Duo.nl, Publicatie financiële gegevens 2016.
These results indicate that it was a financially healthy partnership as it had a large budget at that time. This makes it an interesting case to study, because a large budget does not necessarily mean that appropriate education has led to good results. Through this study, it is investigated to what extent school principals maintain relationships with external actors and organizations concerning appropriate education, and how they perceive the current state of appropriate education on their schools, especially indicated through their perception of red tape. However, this approach makes it possible that the objective level of red tape in a particular school is relatively low, while its school principal perceives a relatively high level of red tape. Because determining the objective level of red tape calls for much more exhaustive research than is possible, only the subjective variant (perception) of red tape is examined. However, this variant may yield more interesting results. An early but classic study into red tape led the following leading, double-sided quote: “One person’s red tape is another person’s protection” (Kaufman, 1977). The argument here is that a multitude of rules does not only affect people in
20 AutipassendonderwijsUtrecht.nl, Hoe rijk is mijn samenwerkingsverband passend onderwijs?, consulted on 9 May 2018, on: http://www.autipassendonderwijsutrecht.nl/nieuws/hoerijkismijnsamen- werkingsverbandpassendonderwijs.
