How is educational policy made

However, the federal government has two primary levers to shape education policy: money, in the form of federal education funding including, charter school funding , and ensuring fairness, generally through mandates that focus on ensuring equity in education. ESSA dictates what a state must do to receive federal education funding including charter school funding , and also, along with additional federal law, establishes mandates to ensure FAIRNESS for all students.

These specify how the Department will determine if a state is doing what it must to keep receiving education funding , as well as ensuring FAIRNESS by complying with all federal mandates. The State Legislature determines how the state will fulfill the requirements set by federal education policy, which in turn places requirements on the State, local school districts, and individual schools, and public charter schools.

Requirements from the state often impact education policy implementation at the authorizer, school district, and State Education Agency levels. Interaction with public charter schools vary. Individual charter schools may interact with several bodies at different times—such as their authorizer,the local school district, and the State Education Agency—to verify the school is fulfilling these requirements. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua.

Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. After the law is passed, the Department of Education often oversees how that policy is actioned in the state, meaning they oversee how it actually works in schools and classrooms across the state.

One of the most significant education policies at the state level is education funding—how the state distributes money to schools. States have different funding formulas that weigh different factors to determine how much money each district and school should receive throughout the state.

For example, some states have formulas that provide more money to schools that serve low-income students, students with disabilities, or English language learners. Formulas often offer different funding amounts for different grade levels to reflect the different needs and costs of educating students over time. If these formulas change, it can have a significant impact on how much money is allocated to schools, and that can impact the ability to hire and retain teachers, maintain school facilities, and purchase needed supplies, technologies, and curriculum.

In many states , state-level policymakers also make decisions often in coordination with local policymakers around when and how schools can reopen for in-person learning. Education policy at the state level deals with more specific policies and plans that impact the day-to-day experience of students across your state. While state policy is definitely more localized than federal education policy, your state likely has many diverse communities, oversees all of them, and has to make policies that serve everyone.

To get involved at this critical level, you can vote in state elections which often see less voter participation than federal elections , testify or provide comments at state legislative hearings, mobilize your community around important issues, engage with your state legislators through meetings and messages, or run for office yourself. The most local level of policymaking happens in school districts and local boards of education.

There are more than 14, school districts in the United States , governed by more than 95, school board members. They work closely with district leadership to make sure schools are running smoothly and that teachers and students get the resources they need.

They deal with controversy, seek solutions to problems, and help the community come together around what matters most: making sure local kids get a world-class education. Local-level policy decisions are those that most directly impact your community. The local level is also the place where our voice can carry the greatest weight and where, unfortunately, we often see the least political participation.

To get involved at this critical level, you can vote in local elections which often see very low voter participation ; attend candidate panels and town halls to learn about different policy roles and candidates in your community; testify or provide comment at city council sessions, schools boards, or other local commissions; mobilize your community around important issues; engage with your local lawmakers who are often community members, parents, neighbors ; or run for office yourself.

When people first start to engage with our policymaking systems, it can feel like you are in the audience. The language might be too inaccessible and the processes may seem arcane.

Politicians and policymakers at every level—federal, state, and local—are elected by voters or appointed by the people we elect.

In short, if we want change in the education system, we can make it happen. The voters are literally the boss when it comes to policy, and there is a significant performance review every few years.

Remember, every member of our policy system was once outside of it—sitting where you are now. If we want a wider range of voices represented in our policymaking bodies, we need more people to run for office—people like you!

Particularly at the local level, school boards and local commissions and committees need more volunteers to run for office. Unlike the systems of most other countries, education in the United States is highly decentralized, and the federal government and Department of Education are not heavily involved in determining curricula or educational standards with the recent exception of the No Child Left Behind Act.

This has been left to state and local school districts. The quality of educational institutions and their degrees is maintained through an informal private process known as accreditation, over which the Department of Education has no direct public jurisdictional control.

Aligned with this mission of ensuring equal access to education, the Department of Education is a member of the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness, and works with federal partners to ensure proper education for homeless and runaway youth in the United States.

Some challenges in education include curriculum unification, racial achievement gap, and controversy over sex education and affirmative action. Major educational issues in the United States center on curriculum and control. One of the major controversies of the United States education policy is the No Child Left Behind Act which will be covered in its own section.

There is no unified curriculum in the United States. Not only do schools offer a range of topics and quality, but private schools may include mandatory religious classes. These religious aspects raise the question of government funding school vouchers in states with Blaine Amendments in their constitution. This has produced debate over the standardization of curricula.

Additionally, there is debate over which subjects should receive the most focus, with astronomy and geography among those cited as not being taught enough in schools.

Drop-out rates are a concern in American four year colleges. In New York, 54 percent of students entering four-year colleges in had a degree six years later — and even less among Hispanics and African-Americans.

Since the s the number of educated Americans has continued to grow, but at a slower rate. Some have attributed this to an increase in the foreign born portion of the workforce.

However, the decreasing growth of the educational workforce has instead been primarily due to slowing down in educational attainment of people schooled in the United States. Educational Attainment Since : This graph shows the educational attainment from to in the United States.

The Racial Achievement Gap in the United States refers to the educational disparities between minority students and Caucasian students. This disparity manifests itself in a variety of ways: African-American and Hispanic students are more likely to receive lower grades, score lower on standardized tests, drop out of high school, and are less likely to enter and complete college.

In the School Board of the state of Kansas caused controversy when it decided to eliminate teaching of evolution in its state assessment tests. Scientists from around the country demurred. Many religious and family values groups, on the other hand, claimed that evolution is simply a theory in the colloquial sense, and as such creationist ideas should therefore be taught alongside it as an alternative viewpoint. Almost all students in the U. However, what students learn varies widely, because curriculum decisions are so decentralized.

Many states have laws governing what is taught in sex education classes or allowing parents to opt out. Some state laws leave curriculum decisions to individual school districts. In many localities in the United States, the curriculum taught in public schools is influenced by the textbooks used by the teachers.

In some states, textbooks are selected for all students at the state level. Since states such as California and Texas represent a considerable market for textbook publishers, these states can exert influence over the content of the books.