George Smith wrote that Thomas Jefferson believed the distribution of power among federal, state, county, and local agencies was indispensable to America’s “system of fundamental balances and checks for the government.” (Smith, 2012) Today federal, state, and local governments still play important roles in the operations of public schools through providing funding, policies, scope and organization of school systems. Through the years, the federal government has increased their position in governing public schools, state government works to guide and offer clarification, and local government is responsible for the day to day affairs.
In Federal Control of Public Schools and the Decline of Community Carl Bankston III discusses the fact that the US Constitution makes no reference to schools or education. Since there is no direct mention the Tenth Amendment reserves all the power to be held at the state and to the people. In fact, federal government had no say in the first public schools, all power was delegated to the state. It wasn’t until after the Civil War that the federal government would become involved with public education. Then after each war federal involvement would continue to increase. Court cases like Brown vs. The Board of Education, Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg, and Green vs. County School Board would be influential in the federal governments control. Even with the added involvement the U.S. Department of Education states that the Federal contribution
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).
The Tenth Amendment gives the authority of the states and school officials control conduct in the schools. Actions have to be consistent with federal constitutional safeguards. The state’s authority over education have the power to tax and provide for the general welfare of its citizens.
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.
What is the role of public schools? Who should be governing public schools? This paper will address each side of these educational issues as well as offer a position statement and an action plan.
Government has been a necessity for man for as long as recorded history, and this is because mankind cannot effectively regulate themselves. In the words of James Madison and Alexander Hamilton, “If men were angels, no government would be necessary” (51). That is not the case in today 's society, nor will it ever be under those circumstances. Since government is vital to the success of the country as a whole, what way, size, or fashion would be the most efficient and beneficial to the people? The United States government is large in size, influence, and power. The size of the government has become too large and should be restricted to a smaller government because it is costly, often inefficient, too powerful, and usurping states rights.
The federal government’s control over education is too invasive. Students should not be expected to perform as compared to a country-wide standard, as each student’s learning abilities are different. Common Core testing is a poor, national standard that does not properly measure a student’s intelligence. The Tea Party believes that the Obama administration is trying to change the education system through “the back door” the inventors claiming that the common core raises the “education quality” when it in fact does not.Nationalized standards represent the heavy presence of the federal government and must be put to rest. The federal funding of schools is a poor solution to solve educational problems. One cannot simply use money as a kind of band-aid, expecting higher funding to result in better education for America’s youth. The government spends an average of ten thousand dollars per student each year, totaling $550 billion. This money is being thrown away and can be put to better use elsewhere. Federal involvement in no way results in a better education system and must be limited.
The Constitution of the United States’ protection of properties can be attributed to its reactionary nature: rebellion against the monarchical tenets and the taxation attacks of British government. With Adams’ and Madison’s efforts and models, the Executive Branches were formed; a checks and balances system of members elected of the people, by the people, and for the people. With the fathers’ agenda set on preventing revolution as formulated in Adams’ observation of monarchical or oligarchical governments, and the desire to own freely without governmental meddling or intervention, any accusation of the primacy of the elite as the basis of the Constitution is fouled. A person is as much a despot for being financially affluent as a poor person must be for not being so. Absolutes do not exist.
The article majors on explaining the different views that existed between the federal government and the power of the states. The two divisions, as the article describes, had a political issue, which creates a kind of debate that has been discussed in the article. It appears that the members of the Southern state were against the federal government as they had threatened of withdrawing from the country when Lincoln was elected president. This action shows us that indeed, there was a significant amount of conflict between the federal and the state power. As the article states, the federals did violate the constitution (Morrison 152). President Lincoln was elected, the issue of violation of the law continued to grow and thus the conflict was made much stronger as more offenses took place.
I believe that the federal government should have more say in education system. Educational funding should have nothing to do with local tax dollars, especially the property taxes. Funding schools mainly through property taxes has made the education disparities among different areas worse and worse. The property taxes should be collected into a federal fund which will be distributed among schools according to student needs and school sizes. The federal government can also use this fund to expand or build more new schools in economically disadvantaged areas to reduce the school crowdedness and large class sizes. Another thing the government can do is hiring more qualified teachers by increasing salary and benefits to attract better
The United States of America was born from a power struggle. Before it was the great international leader that it is today, it was just a wee set of colonies being fought over by the new European inhabitants and the monarchy of England. The people of the colonies won custody from England in a bloody battle and this country has been growing rapidly ever since. Unfortunately, since America is a product of a broken home, it has continued to have control issues; even two hundred years later, no one can ever agree on anything. One of the most significant power struggles seen today is the battle between the federal government and the state government: who really has control? While some rights and policies are explicitly named in the constitution, many others are left up for interpretation (thank the ninth and tenth amendments for this). While many disputes like abortion or marriage rights are prominently debated in the media, there are a few smaller yet still important concerns that are being fought over that are not as commonly discussed. One dividing problem in particular is the matter of public school lunches; while some argue that federal control would be better for students nationwide, others claim that the states know their own people and they should be allowed to make the best decisions.
Education is an issue that touches everyone’s lives in one way or another. Whether you are a parent, student, teacher, taxpayer, or employee, the effects of education on society can be seen everyday. For this reason, public schools are a top concern among political leaders. Over the past twenty-five years, confidence in the nation’s public school system has dramatically declined. While the public for the most part seems to support their school district, criticism is not lacking. Recent years especially have shown dissipating support. It appears that the prevailing view is that public education, as a whole, is in bad condition and is in need of a renewed effort to fix it. Private schools seem to fare
Have you ever shared something with someone and you felt like it wasn't shared evenly, or one of you has more of it then the other? That’s how the members of the national government felt with the articles of confederation. The states had more power than the national government, and they wouldn't pass laws in their states the national government put out. States also made laws that the government had no say in, and some of those laws didn't have positive outcomes. These outcomes led to protests and they then decided they would all have a meeting to revise the articles and create a new federalism government, where the power would be shared equally. They eventually decided there would be three different types of powers, Enumerated, Reserved,
Schools have a number of various sources. The primary sources are federal, state, and local funding. The majority of funding comes from state and local sources; whereas a small percent (usually 9-12%) comes from the federal level. The method by which schools receive funding is through the taxation process. At the state level, taxes are levied from taxpayers, both corporate and citizens via sales and income tax. At the local level, school funding comes from property taxes. Let’s explore the how the various sources of school funding. “According to the National Center for Education Statistics, state and local funding accounts for approximately 93 percent of education expenditures” (Woodruff, 2008, ¶ 2). Let’s examine these various sources of revenue and funding and different formulas for allocation along with their pros and cons.
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