ABSTRACT
This chapter is based on the findings of a two-year study of the support and resource needs at two LMS secondary schools and the processes by which decisions were made. In accordance with the rationale on which r~cent changes in the English and Welsh education system is predicated, heads and governors are being urged to adopt more systematic and rational approaches to planning, resource allocation and decision-making in order to maximize effectiveness and efficiency. This chapter begins with a review of some of the possibilities for using cost effective exercises to improve the quality of decision-making and discusses the implications of these for school organizations. An analysis of the schools' budgets provides a financial backdrop against which resourcing decisions were made, while data gathered from intetviews with heads and financial administrators establishes the context for a discussion of the options for decision-making which were available to headteachers confronted with the task of formulating and administrating their budgets.
