Who Governs Public Education

1. Who Governs Public Education Chapter 11 Graphic Organizer Jonathan Kniss

2. The State Level • The 10th Amendment makes education largely a state function. • The Chain of Command: student, teacher, principal, superintendent, school district, state department of education, state superintendent, state board of education and general state government (legislature, governor and state courts, all within the context of the state constitution) • Commitment and funding level are highly correlated with the health of the state budget • State board of education sets the agenda for k-8: academic standards, curricular offerings, rules and regulations, etc. • State department of education carries out the program created by the state board of education. Duties include administering and distributing state and federal funds, licensing teachers , providing help for improving curriculum and teaching, providing education data and reports, etc

3. The Local School District • The local school board set up the school program, hire school personnel and operate the schools. Membership is usually determined by local elections. • The superintendent leads the school board in policy-making and is the head administrator of the local school district. • The school principal hire faculty members, make faculty assignments, supervise and evaluate staff members, and manage school schedules budgets, procurement etc.

4. Who Influences Public Education National Education Association (NEA) and American Federation of Teachers (AFT) • Exert growing influence on education policy at national and state level • Making a wide range of issues subject to collective bargaining such as teacher pay, curriculum development, fringe benefits, training, class size • Site-based decision making tends to increase teacher power by bringing much of decision-making including budget to the school level Parents • A poll of superintendents says lack of parent involvement is the biggest roadblock to student achievement. • Parent-teacher organizations (e.g., PTA) are a communication link with parents and the formal school organization. Business • Business-school partnerships but issues with conflicting priorities • Private management of schools (ex. Edison Schools) The Federal Government • Federal courts play key role in desegregation, religion in schools, student rights etc. • US Department of Education provides directives and funding for many programs including special education, testing

5. How Are Schools Financed? • Three sources are local, state and federal governments. Breakdown between state and local varies greatly from state to state. Greater reliance on local revenue -> greater gap between budgets of rich and poor districts • State funding comes out of the general budget or school finance plans and lotteries. • Local funding comes from property taxes. • Federal funding often is in the form of categorical grants (money that must be spent for a particular purpose). • In the 80s, categorical grants were partially replaced with block grants with minimal restrictions. No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 • Large funding increase coupled with testing in reading and math grades 3-8, qualified teachers in every classroom. Schools that fail to make adequate yearly progress face consequences. • Concerns? Overemphasis on testing, lack of increase for special education, inadequate federal funding to meet new federal requirements, overly strict definition of school failure

6. Compensatory Education • More equal educational opportunities for disadvantaged children (ex. Head Start) • Title 1: delivers federal funds to local districts with low income students and supplements the educational services to low-achieving students in those districts • Examples: Basic skills instruction, tutoring or remediation, dropout prevention, job training, adult literacy. • Mixed evaluations. Failure to meet original objectives, inadequately funded. • Title 1 Schools showing gains in reading and math testing