Who's in charge here? : the tangled web of school governance and policy / Noel Epstein editor.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Epstein, Noel.

Education Commission of the States.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

School boards--United States.

School boards.

United States.

Education and state--United States.

Education and state.

Physical Description:

ix, 303 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Denver : Education Commission of the States ; Washington, D.C. : Brookings Institution Press, [2004]

Summary:

Behind the Scenes, a revolution is taking place in primary and secondary education. Once thought sacrosanct, the principle of local lay control has come under growing attack. In the 1970s and 1980s, governors sought greater influence by promulgating academic standards and even taking over failing schools. Mayors soon followed, with some wresting control of struggling local school systems. Atop this, the president and Congress greatly extended their reach into U.S. classrooms with enactment of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, which requires annual reading and math tests in grades 3 through 8, tougher yardsticks to measure whether pupils are making sufficient progress, and penalties for schools that persistently fall short.

The result is a spider's web of responsibility. It is difficult, if not impossible, to figure out where accountability lies. Not only have municipal, state, and federal authorities reasserted control over the separate education government that the nation long ago created, but an array of other institutions - including the courts, community-based organizations, and education management companies - are also deeply involved in school decisions. These trends have created a growing gap between those who make education policy and those responsible for the results. What's more, they have contributed to widespread confusion about how to fix public education.

In Who's in Charge Here? some of the finest minds in education cut through the confusion to analyze key issues such as the Constitution's role in allocating responsibility for education, the pros and cons of growing federal control, how to ensure a supply of talented teachers for the underprivileged, the impact of the school-choice movement, and the expanding non-academic role of schools. Other chapters explore the history of U.S. education governance and propose principles for creating a new system that especially benefits the children who are most in need. The question of who should be in charge of America's schools is likely to occupy the nation for years to come. Based on extensive scholarship and practical experience, Who's in Charge Here? is an important contribution to this critical debate.

Contents:

Introduction: who should be in charge of our schools? / Noel Epstein

Turning points: a history of American school governance / Michael W. Kirst

The Tenth Amendment and other paper tigers: the legal boundaries of education governance / James E. Ryan

Recovering from an accident : repairing governance with comparative advantage / Paul T. Hill

A solution that lost its problem: centralized policymaking and classroom gains / Larry Cuban

Less than meets the eye: standards, testing, and fear of federal control / Susan H. Fuhrman

A teacher supply policy for education: how to meet the "highly qualified teacher" challenge / Linda Darling-Hammond, Gary Sykes

Multiple "choice" questions: the road ahead / Henry M. Levin

The American kibbutz?: managing the school's family role / Noel Epstein.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0815724721

OCLC:

56729922