Education Policy Education Democratic Governance National interest o Narrowly international competitiveness soft power etc o Broadly link b t education a free society What is the role of public schools o Acquiring general life skills o Gaining civic critical capacities o Accepting authority o Becoming an economic contributor Different ideological visions of role of individual in society Public Education in the States Primarily a state local responsibility Re State police powers o Laws for the health safety welfare morals of their communities Role of States o Establish schools colleges o Develop curricula o Determine enrollment graduation requirements o Share responsibility for funding Result Great variation at State Local Levels In policy inputs o Revenues resources spending per student Teacher salaries Facilities materials o Material taught In educational OUTPUTS o School performance student achievement Dropout graduation rates Standardized testing scores College readiness Early Federal Involvement in Primary Secondary Education Northwest Ordinance 1787 o Land to new states for public schools U S Office of Education est 1867 o becomes U S Department of Education 1979 Other early federal grants in aid o Smith Hughes Act 1917 vocational education for agriculture Federal Involvement Post WW2 era Involvement closely follows trends shifts in U S federalism Cooperative federalism o National School Lunch Milk Program 1946 o Federal Impacted Areas Aid Program 1950 o National Defense Education Act 1958 Cold War push for science languages Centralized federalism o Elementary Secondary Education Act ESEA 1965 Categorical grants to schools o Head Start 1965 New federalism o Education Consolidation Improvement Act 1981 Made ESEA a block grant Federal Involvement 2000s to today No Child Left Behind NCLB 2001 o Focus ESL Special Ed poor minority students Testing to assess school performance Non complying state risked federal funding Every Student Succeeds Act ESSA 2015 o States create own standards Common Core o Nat l core of learning objectives o Focus English Math What to make of Common Core Familiar objections o One size fits all policy o Too much federal encroachment o Expense difficulty of implementation monitoring Who funds it Who has oversight Continuing debate o Shared national standards VS o State flexibility traditional policy domains states rights etc Public Education in the States Independent School Districts ISD o Authority limited by state constitution laws State rules provisions o Restrictions on taxes debt o School days years of compulsory attendance o Types of schools operated o Teacher salaries qualifications o General curricula textbook adoptions State Level Educational Institutions Regulate ISDs via o Financial controls over allocated funds o Bureaucratic oversight monitoring e g TX Board of Education 15 members 4 year elected terms o Oversees Permanent School Fund o Executes education budget o Nominates Commissioner of Education Public spokesperson head of TX Department of Education o Purchases textbooks shapes their content o Sets standards for students schools Texas Public Education Policy Left to local school districts until the 1940s Key issues shaping state policy o Desegregation o Equity in public school funding o Search for educational excellence How to measure demonstrate High stakes testing Segregation in TX Public Schools Written into TX Constitution o Fewer school days 1 3 less funding for black schools Brown v Board of Education 1954 o 1957 TX Legislature resolution in opposition to ruling Persistence of de facto segregation even after Brown Primary Secondary School Funding Heavy reliance on local property taxes Differences in property values o Leads to differences in district tax revenues o Creates problems of equity in school funding o Property wealthy districts higher tax base better funded schools o Property poor districts lower tax base TX School Finance goes before the Courts San Antonio ISD v Rodriguez 1973 o In 5 4 decision U S Supreme Court upheld TX school finance system Not a violation of 14th Amendment equal protection Edgewood ISD v Kirby 1989 o TX State Supreme Court decision o Existing funding system violated TX Constitution Violation of TX equal protection efficient systems clauses Wealth Sharing or Robin Hood Controversial policy response to Edgewood decision Chapter 41 districts Property wealthy districts o Share tax revenues w poor districts Give state wealth equalization share o State redistribution of funds Chapter 42 districts Property poor districts o Keep own local property tax revenues o Receive additional recaptured funds Pursuing Educational Excellence in TX Centralizing state control over education Weakening power of local school gov t o i e School boards superintendents Foundations of NCLB under Gov Bush o re laboratories of democracy Mixed results o Lower dropout rates o Curriculum controversies o Very testing driven Higher Ed in the State Public Higher Education in the States Local gov ts o May fund public junior colleges community colleges w local taxes o May offer scholarships for local residents States o Strong state identities of public colleges universities o Allowed to charge different tuition for non residents Regional Federal o Regional accreditation of universities programs o Accrediting bodies recognized by U S Dept of Ed Role of States Establish colleges universities o systems of universities Lots of state regulation o e g http www thecb state tx us apps Laws laws cfm o Tuition financing reporting research some curriculum reqs etc Share responsibility for funding Key Federal Involvement Morrill Land Grant Acts 1862 1890 o Federal land given to states o To establish colleges universities for the Benefit of Agriculture the Mechanic Arts Hatch Act 1887 o Federal grants in aid for agricultural research Governing the Universities Board of Regents o Appointed governing body o State level champions of higher ed o Set policy guidelines for universities University President o President CEO of a university o Chief spokesperson representative of school Others University Chancellor Faculty bodies Public University Funding the Costs of Higher Ed Funding sources in TX o Appropriation in state budget o Interest from Permanent University Fund o Student tuition fees o Grants including federal endowments donations etc What s behind rising tuition fees o Ready availability of federal student aid o Student demand for services facilities o