EquityEFA Goal 3 is formulated to meet the basic learning needs of students through “equitable access to adequate learning and life skills programs” (UNESCO. 2000 , p.16). Goal 4 of the Sustainable Development Goals clearly states one of the development agendas beyond 2015: “Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all” (UN, 2014, p.6). The emphasis on “equitable access” and “equitable and quality education”, on the one hand, has justified “equity” as a prerequisite for good quality education. On the other hand, it has drawn the attention of politicians to the issue of “equity” in education. This can be observed in the case of China. The term “equity” encompasses a multitude of concepts, including “justice,” “equity,” “equal opportunity,” and “equivalent treatment” (Field et al., 2007, p. 29). The question of what fairness is and how it differs from equality has been discussed conceptually for a long time (Cook & Hegtvedt, 1983), yet no consensus has been reached (Unterhalter, 2009). “Equity” and “equality” are often used interchangeably and analyzed along the dimensions of resources, opportunities, inputs, processes and outcomes (Klees and Qargha, 2014). To reveal the main difference between equality and fairness, equality is about an even distribution where everyone gets the same level of access to education, while equity prioritizes fair and equal treatment even if it has to be achieved at the expense of an unequal distribution (ALA Intellectual Freedom Committee, 2005). Equity in education is set as a key objective of the teacher rotation policy. Challenged by regional inequalities faced by people living in rural or economically backward regions (Lee, 2002), the practice of teaching...... half of paper....... 517). To better understand the mechanisms for achieving equity, Paquette (1998) divides equity into vertical equity (“giving to each according to need and merit”) and horizontal equity (“giving to each according to common fate” (p.41 In an effort to provide fair treatment to underrepresented and disenfranchised groups, the vertical equity approach has made the question of how resources are redistributed an even greater demand on government resources” ( Brown, 2006, p.517).By adopting a vertical equity framework, the teacher rotation policy recognized students in rural and low-performing schools as the disadvantaged group whose educational needs deserve the highest priority in the redistribution of resources...