Education: Conflict in Policy Direction

1. Education: Conflict in Policy Direction July 28th, 2009

2. Education • Conservative Position (individual burden, rewards accumulated through competition, family and private institutions in the role of determining education policy; community and local control rather than federal). • Liberal Position (overcome inequality through education; equal opportunity and funding and centralization/fed funding) • Expectations = teach students everything about life

3. History • US education policy = education should be free and universal and control centered at the local level. • Jeffersonian position on education: 1-proved mass literacy training; 2- grant access to all children without regard to social background; 3-provide an educational system where citizens can be trained in the US and not Europe • Education will allow for an educated citizenry and allow democracy to thrive; served as melting pot.

4. History • US education system – grew out of English heritage system (church and school responsible for education) • States now have more control of local school districts (conflicts with tradition of local control.) • Federal aid remains limited in scope (liberal = more fed funds; cons = less fed funds) • Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) 1965 = provided federal funding to local public schools.

5. Intergovernmental Conflict on ESEA • Funding for public schools = 9% federal government; 43.8% local government; 47.1% federal government. • Prior to 1940’s (private colleges and universities were dominant; 1862 Morrill Act helped to establish public universities; now 80% of the nation’s college students attend public institutions for college; state funded with some federal funds).

6. Inequality and Education • Remedying Social Inequality Through Education (conservative v. liberal position) • Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) – separate but equal; Brown v. Board of Education (1954) • Unequal Financial Resources (tax base = tax rate multiplied by the value of taxable property) • Efforts to Reform Financial Disparities (Serrano v. Priest 1971; SA school district v. Rodriguez)

7. Education Reform • School Finance Reform (conservative and liberal redistributive policy) • Do dollars make a difference? • Defining adequacy (change from funding to performance) • Merit Pay (initial attraction, motivation, objective definition, teacher behavior, increase local costs, job status priority).

8. Education Reform • Billingual Education Act of 1974 = federal funds for the language needs of non-English speaking students. • Multiculturalism • District Consolidation and Decreased Local Power • Private Schools (since 1970 – enrollment = less than 1 percent) • Education Vouchers (Friedman and free market; diversity? and public funds and private assistance)

9. Education Reform and Standardized Test • Equality of opportunity: the rules for success and failure are fair (educational equality v. differing levels of ability). • Poor Student Achievement (test scores); test emphasis (NCLB) = negative aspects in focusing on S-tests: • Crisis in Education: (1983 National Commission on Excellence in Education); recommendations = focus on basics, 7-hour day and 220-day A year.)

10. Shifting Education Policies • Changing Priorities: Johnson 63 -68: new programs and possible increase in federal aid; Nixon 69 – 74: greater role of the state/local; Carter 77 – 80: shift toward federal influence and funding; Reagan 81-88: shift responsibility to state level. • Education Policy Priorities in the Twenty First Century: 1990s – before OCLB – America 2000; Goals 2000 • No child left behind (adequate yearly progress AYP)

11. Unresolved Education Issues • National Teacher Certification • Work Force Preparation • Moral Education • Intelligent Design and Evolution • Outcome-Based Education (OBE) • Charter Schools, Privatization, Home Schooling, Gender Schools • Diversity (in admissions process) Affirmative Action • Costs of Higher Education (285% increase from 1985 – 2005)