With 300 million lev cut from the education budget, Chekhov naturally would not give up so easily. If expanding the scope of compulsory education was impossible, the money could still be used elsewhere. How could he simply let it go?
The moment the meeting ended that day, Chekhov returned to the Ministry of Education to draw up a new plan. He had to submit another budget report before the conference ended, or those 300 million lev in education funds would fly away!
Having just returned to the Ministry of Education and not even had time to catch his breath, his secretary came running over. "Mr. Chekhov, the palace called. His Majesty wants you to come to the palace at once to discuss matters!"
Chekhov froze for a moment, then said, "All right. Go notify the driver. I'll leave immediately!"
He knew that there was an eighty percent chance this summons to the palace was also about the 300 million lev in education funding!
Bulgaria's budget system had always worked this way: the Ministry of Finance provided a total sum, then the various departments fought over it. Once that was done, each department had to take its own budget report through Congress for a round.
If it passed, all was well. If it did not, they had to submit a new plan. If it failed again, the money would no longer have anything to do with that department and would be transferred directly into special funds!
There was only one kind of funding that would not be cut: classified projects approved by the king. Their contents did not need to be disclosed to Congress, and as long as something was a classified project, the members of Congress would pass it directly!
That was impossible for education funding. Education expenditures could all