This article foregrounds the value of using "critical policy historiography" as an analytical/methodological tool in undertaking policy formulation research, highlighting the importance of taking a long-term historical perspective. Using school-funding policies in South Africa as a case study, it argues that while there was wide consultation with stakeholders, power dynamics within the policymaking process underscore the influence of policy elites, such as experts and powerful lobby groups, in shaping policy outcomes. In particular, it critiques the foundational moment of school-funding policymaking in the democratic era, that is, the South African Schools Act of 1996, focusing on key actors that shaped the Act, and whose interests were ultimately served. The article then reviews changes made to school-funding policies to date, and, building on the work of Salim Vally and others, argues for a policymaking framework that strengthens the influence of poor and marginalised communities on policy outcomes if the education social justice project in South Africa is to be advanced.