Organizational and Governance in

1. Organizational and Governance in American EducationEDU 548 - Spring 2013 SemesterThursday, March 14, 2013Chapter Eleven Presentation: “Schools As Political Systems”Presented by: Anyha Lord-JerrisProfessor: Dr. Lauren Larsen

2. Overview • The myththat public educationshouldbenonpolitical; • The following concepts willbeexamined: • System shock • Decisional power • The differencebetweenpolitics, governance, and policy; • A paradigm of educationalpolicymaking – The Stage Model of Policymaking.

3. THE Myth that politics and Education do not mix • Apolitical Myth of Schooling (popular since the early 1900s) • Public schools and politics should be separated; • Politics should not in anyway influence educational decisions; • Schools and people who work there should remain pure and untainted by the evils of politics.

4. THE Myth that politics and Education do not mix The Source of the Myth It is a beliefshared by professionaleducatorsand the general public for variousreasons. • Professional Educators believe: 1.Being viewed as political they may develop a lack of trust with the public because the public has little confidence in politics and politicians. 2. Educators should be neutral on a broad range of school issues such as spending so that it does not appear that they are advancing their own interests and agendas. Apolitical myth began in the early 20th century during the Progressive era amidst political problems such as corrupt contracts, party bosses, and machine politics.

5. The Progressives reformedschool politics by removing politics from schools by the followingmeans: “Closed”, “Apolitical System”

6. Proponents of the “closed system” adopted the Corporate model The Corporate Model Centralized school organization

7. Challenges to the myth System Shock • New groups withdifferentviews of schoolingchallengedprofessionals; • The groups made theirvoicesheardthroughboardelections and lobbying; • Filing of lawsuits; System shockis as a result of the belief by critics that public schools are failures.

8. Challenges to the Myth: System Shock • System Regularityrefers to set routine (for example of a system routine is a lesson plan) (Refer to page 232: System regularity uses) • System RegularityDisrupted – System Shock • War, economicdepression, or widespreaddissatisfactionwithgovernmentpolicies; • Major historicalexample of system shockwas the U.S. SupremeCourt’sdecision on desegregation of American schools in 1954); • Horace Mann’s introduction of ideas about free public education; • Introduction of vocational programs in the early 20th century; • No Child LeftBehindAct (NCLB).

9. Decisional power Community support is a major source of political power. Importance of power isillustrated by twocommon questions: 1. Whyis the music curriculum typically the first to be cut in a budget crunch? 2. Why do coaches becomeprincipals more oftenthanotherteachers do?

10. Dominance in Decision Making 20th Century

11. Groups challenging The Dominance of Administrators

12. Challenges of decision Making • Conflict Resolution in Policymaking • Finding methods to resolve conflicts; • Stakeholders seek to impose multiple values on public schools; • Superintendents spend a lot of their time on public relations activities; • New role of administrators “the politician” Dual Role of Today’s Educational Leaders • Teachers and administrators must simultaneously think and act as educators and politicians.

13. Politics, Governance, and policy • Politics – “refers to the social conflict that develops when groups that differ in values and goals seek to influence public policy”. • Governance – “refers to a constitutional mechanism established to provide a legal, orderly way to resolve political conflicts”. • Policy – “substantive decisions, commitments, and actions made by those who hold or affect government positions of authority, as they are interpreted by various stakeholders”.

14. Four Questions of Special importance today • What should be taught? • At what age should various subjects be taught? • Who should be permitted to teach? • Who should be accountable for student learning?

15. The stage model of policymaking • The Stage Model of Policymaking – developed by political scientist to describe all the policymaking in the United States. It helps people understand how policymaking occurs.

16. Conclusion Implementing school policy is more complicated today than it was 40 to 50 years ago. There are several factors that influence and shape the educational policies that are implemented or rejected. School Administrators must continue to evolve so that they are able to address these challenges in an effective manner.