Public Education

Question 1

state power & public policy (education)

Answer 1

police power - power to make laws for the general welfare of their communities
10th amendment - states have primary authority in regulating education

Question 2

education is a matter of national interest and import

Answer 2

narrowly: international competitiveness, ‘soft power’
broadly: link between education & a free society

Question 3

role of public schools

Answer 3

different ideas of education articulate different versions of the role of the individual in society

Question 4

public education in the states

Answer 4

• education is primarily a state and local responsibility but there is variation at state and local levels
  in…
  
  • input: teachers salaries, qualifications, funding
  • output: dropouts, grad rates, test scores

Question 5

role of states (education)

Answer 5

• establishing schools and colleges
• determining curricula
• determining enrollment & graduation requirements
• sharing responsibility for funding

Question 6

federal involvement in education (federalism)

Answer 6

• education linked to federalism
  
  • dual federalism: US dept of Education (1867) grants in aid
  • cooperative federalism: national school lunch & milk program (1946), national defense education act (1958) push for science & languages
  • Centralized federalism: Elementary & Secondary Education Act* (ESEA) (1965), Head Start (1965)
  • New federalism: Education Consolidation & Improvement Act (1981): ESEA block grants
  • Ad hoc federalism: Contemporary standards movement

Question 7

federal involment in education

Answer 7

• people dont like it bc its not ‘one size fits all’
• who funds it?
• who has oversight? (standardized testing)

Question 8

issues in public education

Answer 8

• accessing the quality of k-12 education
  
  • funding & grad/dropout rates
• standardized testing
• traditional v alternative schools (charter v magnet)
• school funding - proformance-based funding: schools w higher marks get more
  
  • vouchers: parents revice their students ‘share’ of public ed funding & spend on private schools

Question 9

primary & seconary education

Answer 9

• common schools are funded at tax payer expense
• establishing and funding these schools is mandated by tx constitution

Question 10

synonyms (education)

Answer 10

education - democratic imperative
refrences to educational oppotunity

Question 11

local school districts, governing body

Answer 11

• limited by state constitutiion & laws
• governing bodes is the ‘board of trustees’ (school board)
• elected in non partisan elections
• length of term vary, elected at large from districts

Question 12

school board

Answer 12

• is the model for council-manager form
• board approves budget
• board hires superintendent

Question 13

tx public educaion policy (to protect others)

Answer 13

• desegreagation
• equity in public school funding
• search for educational excellence

Question 14

segregation in tx public schools

Answer 14

• was written int constitution
  
  • black schools had fewer days and 1/3 less funding
• brown v board of edu
  
  • ends’de jure’ segregation
• persistance of ‘de facto’ segragation ater broan v board of edu - due to housing patterns

Question 15

tx education funding

Answer 15

• equality of funding is a major issue betwen ‘poor’ and ‘rich’ districts
• ‘tax bases’ varies across school districts - varation in amount of students