Government Accountability

Although the balance of power between the national government and the states has changed over the years, the federalist system is a fundamental part of the U.S. government (The White House, 2013). The states sponsor important programs to fund education, help troubled cities and provide social services. At the local level, the municipalities control a number of other services and regulations, but never fail to be in collaboration between the national, state and local governments. The constitution was put into place to support and defend the basic right of civilians of the United States (Marchant, 2003). Although the Constitution does not refer to education, operation and management of schools is made, particularly with respect to amendments to protect individual rights of students, faculty and staff. With these set laws into place to hold our country

Education is the foundation to secure an individual in having a better future and a successful career in life. Public education primarily falls upon the state and local government to take charge of, which get divided up into local school districts that are managed by school boards. School boards are “ an elected body corporate which manages delegated powers in regards to the deliver of education service within a defined territory (Duhaime’s Law Dictionary)”. Each state “has its own department of education and laws regulating finance, the hiring of school personnel, student attendance, and curriculum (Corsi-Bunker, Antonella).

In 2001, Former President George W. Bush signed the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act. This Law launched the national standards and testing movement of the United States (2004).

Indirectly, or directly, one can argue, public schools are controlled by the federal and state governments. Several issues have emerged, because of the conflict between federal and state requirements for education. “Under the Tenth Amendment, any authority not given specifically to the federal government is reserved to the states. Thus, the federal government has no authority to regulate education directly; that belongs to the states” (Underwood, n. d., p. 2). To get around this, the federal government controls the schools through funds for complying with certain initiatives, procedures, and policies (Underwood, n. d.). Ironically, both the state and federal levels of government hold the district liable for implementing different agendas and legal obligations. The federal government, however, can ensure that no citizen is denied their rights or privileges, even in a private institution, because of the Bill of Rights and other amendments. Failure to comply by these amendments or statutes can lead to the loss of federal funding and legal reproductions for schools.

Bush’s No Child Left Behind (NCLB) federal policy. Both Clinton and Bush administrations regulated freedom of choice within their educational policies. Clinton’s Goals 2000 increased standards for student scores within core subjects. Legislation targeting Title I, required States and school districts to “turn-around” low-performing schools, and in 1993, public charter schools increased to over 2, 000 (www.clinton5.nara.gov). Bush’s No Child Left Behind’s structure demanded high-stakes testing and created provision for privatization of public education, as well as “school choice .” No Child Left Behind not only increased the Clinton’s strong accountability disposition, but it also superimposed a new set of accountability rules that would adversely affect public schools (Porter, Linn, & Trimble, 2005). One significant requirement of NCLB is that each state must adopt challenging academic content standards and challenging student achievement standards. Additionally, states must establish Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) goals for each year from 2002 to 2014—that would culminate in the 2014 goal that all American students would be at or above the proficient student academic achievement standard (P.L. 107–110, 2001). When local educational agencies (LEA) failed to meet their state’s AYP goals, in addition to other criteria, they [LEA] faced the inevitability of losing their accredited status and eventually face school

The No Child Left Behind Act, which passed Congress with overpowering bipartisan backing in 2001 and was signed into law by President George W. Bush on Jan. 8, 2002, is the name for the latest redesign to the Elementary and Secondary Act of 1965. The NCLB law which was implemented out of worry that the American educational system was no more globally focused, significantly expanded the government's role in holding schools accountable for the educational achievement of all children. Furthermore, it put an exceptional spotlight on guaranteeing that states and schools help specific groups of children to be academically successful, for instance, English-language learners, Students with Disabilities (SWD), and socioeconomically challenged students, whose academic

For many poor, minorities, and other disadvantaged groups, the country has not made significant progress toward quality education for at-risk youth consistent with specific provisions outlined in the No Child Left Behind Act, failing the hopes of students and their families. When the NCLB Act was signed into law by President George W. Bush on January 8, 2002, it was supposed to represent a new beginning in providing quality school education to young people who come from low-income families and who have special needs. Its purpose was to close the achievement gap between groups of students in elementary and high schools. However, many school districts across the country are still having difficulties in meeting the

The Bush administration, as well as others, hoped to close achievement gaps and bring all children up to a higher standard. In order to do this, No Child Left Behind (NCLB) was enacted with the hope of an extreme education reform. It requires strict accountability and assessments for schools. This was done without proper funding and expectations that are difficult for schools and students to reach. This act caused many problems in schools rather than fixing the problems that already existed.

Nevertheless, the Bush administration reviewed the educational reform policies and set to make changes quickly. Therefore, in 2001 the administration passed the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB). NCLB

Federal involvement in education began in 1954 with the National Defense Education Act (NDEA), which initiated federal funding to schools in the United States. NDEA marked the beginning of a long line of education policy bills over the course of more than forty years. No Child Left Behind, or NCLB, was not a novelty piece of legislation; its ancestry dated back to 1965 with President Lyndon B. Johnson’s passage of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act—a more descriptive mandate for the usage of federal funds and the requirements of schools in the United States (Anderson 3). Through Title 1 provisions, ESEA intended to alleviate the inequality in public schools by providing federal funding for schools in areas with high percentages of children

The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) was introduced March 22 2001, and enacted January 8th 2002. NCLB was enacted after the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1965 was determined to be out of date, and underperforming by the majority of US legislatures. The goal of NCLB was to improve the overall success rate of students in The United States compared to other developed nations. The initial act was supported bipartisanly and was the First bill passed by the 107th Congress, but was soon opposed by many politicians and educators.

“The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 wasn’t signed into law by President Bush until Jan. 8, 2002, was reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, the central federal law in pre-collegiate education” (No Child 1). Since 1965, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act was established and made the ‘Title I’ programs in schools to aid students who needed extra help on a day to day basis. When the act needed to be reauthorized for 2001, they changed the name of the act to “No Child Left Behind” or NCLB (No Child 1-2). Annual testing shows the federal governments if every student in every public school nation wide are meeting their state’s standards in mathematics and reading.

The no Child left behind act of 2001 has had a major impact on students, teachers, and our culture as a whole. When the NCLB act was passed in Congress and signed into law by President Bush, it was so that we would have increased accountability for schools and teachers, improving test scores, and help schools get the support and backing of the federal government so that no more children would slip through the cracks of the educational system.

The role of the federal government in setting education policy increased significantly with the passage by Congress of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, a sweeping education reform law that revised the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. "Federal policy has played a major role in supporting standards-based reform since the passage of the Improving America's Schools Act (IASA) of 1994. That law required states to establish challenging content and performance standards, implement assessments…hold school systems accountable…" (Goertz, 2005, pg. 73)

Currently the education system in the United States is funded mostly on a state and local level, who always borne over 90% of the public elementary and secondary education finances (need cite). The original Department of Education was developed in 1867 to collect information on schools and teaching that would help the States establish effective school systems (need cite). Fast forward over one hundred years to 1980, when Congress established the Department of Education as a Cabinet level agency, and note that education standards and improvement continue to be of great importance to the government. It is important to note that the state and federal government play separate roles in the education of students, whereas the federal government has the means to