Chapter 4: Organizing and Paying for American Education

1. Chapter 4: Organizing and Paying for American Education • 25% of students nationwide attend school outside of neighborhood • Public magnet, charter campus, private

2. 5 Types of Choice Programs • Magnet schools • Charter schools • Open enrollment • Vouchers • smallest • Tax credit problems

3. About Choice programs and prevalence • Between 1993-1999, # of students participating in choice programs increased from 9.7 to 13.6 million • Poor families continue to be left behind • Despite programs that target low-income students

4. About Choice programs • Give parents more say in how their children are educated • More satisfied with a charter school they have chosen • View that competition is raised in a public school system • Advocates think competition from private schools will force public campuses to improve or shut down • Significant academic gains from attending magnet schools

5. Big ideas in Chapter 4 • American education system structure addressed • Complexity of finance addressed • Comes from different sources

6. Structure of the American Education System • US Dept. of Ed. At the top of the system • State structures in the middle • School district and school levels at the bottom

7. Bottom of the system • Professionals such as teachers and principals • Provide most knowledge about what goes on in the classrooms • Cause for having a lot to say in determining what happens with their students

8. Perspectives and relationships amongst professionals • Horizontal perspective: professionals at all levels have to do their job well • Line relationship: when one person has authority over another • Staff relationship: no formal supervisory authority of one person over the other • Responsibilities must be made clear

9. The Physical Organization of Schools • The basic building block of the US education system is the school • The typical design of schools is frequently criticized for resembling an egg crate…A series of cells or pockets with routes running between them. Some ed critics see this architecture as interfering with the need to introduce new educational practices. For example, the walls restrict communication between teachers & channel the flow of student traffic. • The physical arrangement of a school into classrooms has organizational as well as instructional implications. For example, it is easy for teachers to be isolated in their classrooms.

10. The organization of leaders/staff in schools • PRINCIPALS: The principal is in charge of the school, the final authority at the school. The principal is responsible for instructional leadership, community relationships, staff, teacher selection and evaluation, pupil personnel, buildings & grounds, budgets, administration of personnel, provision of contracts, & business management. • ASSISTANT PRINCIPALS: Assists principal with duties (see above). • DEPARTMENT HEADS & TEAM LEADERS: In elementary schools, there will be this less formal level of leadership… These are full-time teachers who assume a communication and coordination role for their grade levels or team • TEACHERS: The single largest group of adults in the school is the teachers. • SCHOOL SUPPORT STAFF: A school has other personnel that support the administrators and teachers. • *See Fig.4.1

11. Organization of the School District • Public schools in the US are organized into school districts, which have similar purposed, but widely different characteristics. • The school district is governed by a school board, and its day-to-day operations are led by a superintendent. • LOCAL BOARD OF EDUCATION: Legal authority for operating local school systems is given to local boards of education through state statutes. The statutes prescribe specifically how school board members are to be chosen and what duties/responsibilities they have in office. The statues also specify the terms of board members, procedures for selecting officers to the board, duties of the officers and procedures for filling any vacancies. 92% of the school boards in the US are elected by popular vote. Normally, teachers may not be board members in the districts where they teach; however, they may be board members in districts where they live. • POWERS & DUTIES OF SCHOOL BOARDS: Varies from state to state. School boards’ major function is the development of policy for the local school district—policy that must be in harmony with both federal & state law. These powers usually include the power to act as follows: obtain revenue, maintain schools, purchase sites & build buildings, purchase materials & supplies, organize and provide programs of studies, employ necessary workers and regulate their services, admit and assign pupils to school & control their conduct.

12. Organization of the School District, cont… • SUPERINTENDENT OF SCHOOLS: One of the primary duties of the local board is to select its chief executive officer, the superintendent. In a few states, especially in the SE, school district superintendents are elected by the voters. The superintendent is responsible for the day-to-day operations of the school district. • THE CRITICAL IMPORTANCE OF LEADERSHIP… The quality of the educational program of a school district is influenced strongly by the leadership that the board of education and the superintendent provide. • *See Fig. 4.2

13. Organization of Education at the State Level • The US Constitution does not specifically provide for public education, where as some other countries do. However, the 10th Amendment has been interpreted as granting this power to the states. The states are the governmental units in the US charged with the responsibility for education. State legislatures, are the chief policy makers for education. State legislatures grant powers to state boards of education, state departments of education, chief state school officers, and local board of education. • Stability, continuity, & leadership for education can come from the state board.

14. Organization of Education at the State Level, Cont… • STATE BOARDS OF EDUCATION: they are both regulatory and advisory. • Some regulatory functions are the est. of standards for issuing and revoking teaching licenses, the est. of standards for approving & accrediting schools, and the development and enforcement of a uniform system for gathering and reporting educational data.. • Advisory functions include considering the educational needs of the state, both long-term and short-range, and recommending to the governor ad the legislature ways of meeting these needs. • State boards, in studying school problems and in suggesting and analyzing proposals can be invaluable to legislature. • A state board can also coordinate, supplement, and even replace study commissions appointed by a legislature for advising on educational matters.

15. Organization of Education at the State Level, Cont… • STATE BOARD MEMBERSHIP: Members of state boards of education get their position in various ways. Usually they are appointed by the governor, or they my be elected by the people, the legislature, or the school board members in a regional convention—also with confirmation by the senate. • CHIEF STATE SCHOOL OFFICERS: Every state has a CSSO, commissioner of education, or superintendent of public instruction. Currently, 19 of these officers are elected by the people, 27 are appointed by the state board of education, and 4 are appointed by the governor.