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• 1. Introduction: They Tax Dogs in West Virginia, Don’t They?
• 2. Federalism: The Power Plan
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• 4. Political Attitudes and Participation: Venting and Voting
• 5. Parties and Interest Groups: Elephants, Donkeys, and Cash Cows
• 6. Legislatures: The Art of Herding Cats
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• 8. Courts: Turning Law into Politics
• 9. Bureaucracy: What Nobody Wants but Everybody Needs
• 10. Local Government: Function Follows Form
• 11. Metropolitics: The Hole Government Problem
• 12. Finances: Filling the Till and Paying the Bills
• 13. Education: Reading, Writing, and Regulation
• 14. Crime and Punishment
• 15. Health and Welfare Policy: State, Heal Thyself!
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Chapter 13: Education

Study

Chapter Summary
Education policy in the states is related to fundamental democratic values of fairness and equity. As such, it often sparks lively debates in regard to the appropriate distribution of state and local resources. While states retain a high degree of flexibility in shaping education policy, there are a number of factors and constraints they must contend with. These include national economic conditions, national policy goals, political actors at the state and federal level, administrative departments at the state level, interest groups, and local debates over the appropriate use of property taxes.

The ability to be innovative in providing public education explains why states and localities differ in their methods of securing financial resources and why different educational standards are emphasized from state to state. In meeting such standards, however, states also must be cognizant of the national educational standards.

The standards movement of the 1980s and 1990s has been revived with the No Child Left Behind Act. Controversy over funding for the act has led to renewed battles within and among states, and between states and the federal government, over the appropriate role of government in providing free and public education.

Objectives
After reading this chapter, you should understand…

• what the No Child Left Behind Act requires and why it is so controversial
• the education reform movements of the 1980s
• who the primary actors are concerning education policy
• the debates in regard to property taxes and school funding
• the “standards movement” of the 1990s
• the educational alternatives to public schools
• the difference between teachers’ unions and parents’ groups

Study Questions

1. What is the No Child Left Behind Act? What does it require? Why it is so controversial?


2. What did the 1983 report Nation at Risk do to education reform movements?

3. Who are the primary actors when it comes to running the nation's schools?

4. What factors can lead to variation in the administration of state education policy?

5. What are potential sources of conflict in regard to a community's local property taxes and school funding? What explains disparities in funding among school districts?

6. What was the standards movement of the 1990s? Discuss key precipitating events.

7. What are three alternatives to public schools?

8. What is the difference between teachers' unions and parents' groups? Provide examples of each. How these and other groups attempt to influence state education policy?