Chapter 10 Education Policy Problems Facing Education o Funding o Separation of Church and State o Quality of Education o School Vouchers Funding o Much funding comes from property taxes property tax does not keep up with inflation o Inequitable different schools get different amounts of money o States are working to improve the system Separation of Church and State o Establishment Clause and Free Exercise Clause established that church and state were separate o Establishment Clause prevents government sponsored religious activity contradicts with the Free Exercise Clause what if a student wants to lead a prayer at school o Engel v Vitale no school sponsored prayer o Santa Fe Independent School District v Doe no student led prayer either Quality o Zelman v Simmons Harris Parents can use publicly founded vouchers to send children to parochial schools o Statistics show American kids performing below Asians and Europeans in science and math trend worsens after middle school o Teachers are of inferior quality then in the past many teachers teach subjects they didn t major in many teachers quit after a short time they are paid very little o Tenure keeps bad teachers in place o Students focus less on schoolwork than in the past No Child Left Behind 2002 Requires students to pass testing requirements before progressing to the next grade o National Assessment of Educational Progress part of NCLB every state administers tests to schools to check their progress FCAT etc Obama reforms NCLB institutes Race to the Top program o Federal government gives lots of money to schools that adopt statewide learning standards and assessments build data systems to measure achievement reward good teachers and foster education innovation Affirmative Action o Promotes diversity which some claim is important for education o Does it deny admission to more qualified students Costs of Higher Education o Continue to rise faster than inflation Merit Pay o Teachers generally don t get raises bonuses based on performance o Merit pay should lead to better education o It s not clear what constitutes good performance National Board for Professional Teach Standards sets standards for excellence teacher Teacher Standards There are proposals to make it harder to qualify to be a Competency tests for teachers comes with many doubts o What is more important in a teacher Knowledge or ability to transmit knowledge o There is already a shortage of teachers in some areas Some states have programs to improve current teachers skills Teacher Salaries big differences between in pay between teachers and other jobs with similar requirements o Leads to a shortage of teachers in some places where teaching is difficult inner cities etc School Vouchers government gives money to parents who then choose what school to spend it on send their kids o Studies have shown to be not that effective School choice parents can send their children to any public school in a particular area this encourages competition between schools and improvement Charter Schools government supported but independent School Testing many question its relevance o teaching to the test makes kids learn the test and nothing else o overtesting too much testing means less actual learning o Teachers have cheated to improve their kids test scores Arguably more college graduates means more economic development increasing the priority of college education and public funding for college Universities themselves also generate significant economic activity The amount of students taking loans and the amounts being borrowed are increasing every year o Many default on debts areas of public policy deal with Education deals with many of the same issues in Equity and Ethics that other Chapter 11 Environmental and Energy Policy Energy Independence and Security Act 2007 o Made changes to the Corporate Average Fuel Economy Standards o Set national fuel economy goals o 35 MPG goal for 2020 Keystone XL Pipeline proposed pipeline to bring Canadian tar sands oil to American refineries Much of Environmental Policy has to do with public health o Clean Air Act public health law o Other examples are the need for clean water food fiber energy and Humans are so numerous now that they are significantly affecting the recycling of waste environment Agenda 21 UN plan to take action against changes in the environment Sustainable Development economic growth compatible with natural environmental systems and social goals 2012 UN Rio 20 Conference international conference on sustainable development Environmental Policy has been growing in importance since the 1960s will continue to grow and play a bigger part in the policy agenda Many policies developed decades ago are no longer Conflict over environmental policy is due to opposition from businesses that effective efficient equitable wish to avoid regulation 1990s Bill Clinton s EPA Environmental Protection Agency attempted to make environmental regulation more efficient and more acceptable to businesses and Republicans o Collaborative decision making industry leaders worked together with government officials to come up with solutions o Only moderately successful Evolution of Environmental and Energy Policy o Most of the major environmental statutes in place today were enacted in the 1970s o The earliest forms of environmental policy were the US Forest Service and the National Park Service o Naturalist John Muir founded the Sierra Club in 1892 o FDR expanded conservation policies as part of the New Deal o Taylor Grazing Act 1934 ended of overgrazing of rangelands o Bureau of Land Management created 1946 managed public lands in West Awareness about the environment has been increasing since the 1960s o Environmental organizations and interest groups formed over the years influencing public policy o Examples Audubon Society Natural Resources Defense Council Conflict over environmental policy began in the 1980s with increased partisanship and concerns over regulation of business o Environmental agencies received huge budget cuts during Reagan Bush Sr and Bush Jr administrations Obama favors more environmentally conscious policy but economic weakness prevents decisive action form being taken NEPA National Environmental Policy Act 1969 signified beginning of modern era in environmental policy o First acknowledged impact of people on the environment EIS Environmental impact statement used in government agency planning and decision making offer a detailed and
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