Analysis of the Impact of Political Neutrality in Education on Superintendent Elections : Focusing on Comparative the Cost of Electing Superintendents and Governors

The superintendent election prohibits the involvement of political parties in accordance with the constitution, which specifies the political neutrality of education. However, superintendent candidates participate in elections by applying the Public Official Election Act based on party affiliation. They also incur election expenses based on the same criteria recommended by the party for governors candidates. The purpose of this study is to examine how superintendent elections, influenced by political neutrality, differ from governors elections, through the analysis of election violation cases and the analysis of differences in election expenses. Additionally, to examine differences in election expenses, the study compared the income and expenditures of superintendents and governors based on official election expense data from the National Election Commission. The study compared candidate assets, campaign contributions, and party support funds for income, and election expense limit, expense coverage limit, and detailed expenditure items for expenditures. Furthermore, the study selected five accounting officers overseeing election expenses in both superintendent and governors elections, conducted interviews, and explored differences in election expense operations. Recognizing that the election of the superintendent has the specific condition, educational practice was discussed on issues that require standards and methods suitable for the election of the superintendent. The superintendent election system should suggested the re-establishment of the election cost system, such as special provisions for the election of superintendents only and the public system.