| Following World War II, Japan established the board of education as a local administrative agency of education. However, its practice was less than satisfactory, and the public criticized it for a long time. Experts in Japanese pedagogy and members of the Japanese National Diet even proposed the abolition of the system. In June 2014, the National Diet of Japan passed the Amendment Bill to the Administrative Law of Local Education, which made fundamental changes to the educational administration system. The Amendment Bill reduced the autonomy of the board of education from the executive heads and made it more susceptible to the policies of the dominant political parties. The administration's reform of local education has been debated for decades. Why was a breakthrough in the transformation of the education administration possible in 2014? Using the multiple streams model, this study analyzes the five key factors in the transformation of Japan's local education administration in 2014, including the problem stream, policy stream, political stream, policy entrepreneurs, and policy window. The analysis reveals the characteristics of the educational administration transformation led by Japanese conservative political forces. These characteristics indicate that politicians have successfully achieved interference in education under the pretext of responding to popular demands. The political development of Japan will be significantly impacted by the administration's transformation of local education. |
