ORGANIZING AND PAYING FOR AMERICAN EDUCATION

OBJECTIVES

• Describe the organizational structure of schools and school districts and the authority relationships among schools, states, and the federal government.
• Analyze pro and con arguments presented for increasing school choice.
• Describe the relationship of teachers to their principal and how the responsibilities of the principal relate to those of the school district superintendent and the school board.
• Summarize the key sources of funding for public schools and issues related to over reliance on any one of these sources.
• Describe the underlying theme related to the large number of states that have court cases dealing with school finance.
• Compare the spending for public schools in the United States with that of other developed countries.
  

OUTLINE
THE STRUCTURE OF THE AMERICAN EDUCATION SYSTEM

• See Table 5.1 on page 143 for the policy to practice continuum in the US education system.
• Two types of relationships in an organization: line and staff.
• Line relationship: an organizational arrangement in which a subordinate is directly responsible to a supervisor.
• Staff relationship: an arrangement in which one party is not under the direct control or authority of another.
• See figure 5.1 on page 147 for a typical school organizational chart: a graphic representation of the line and staff relationships of personnel in a school, school district, or other type of organization.
• See figure 5.2 on page 150 for a typical school district line and staff organization.
• See figure 5.3 on page 151 for a typical structure of a State Education System.
• See figure 5.4 on page 154 for influences on legislative decision making.
• Read pages 158-162 on other types of educational agencies.
• Politics also impacts upon education.  Read pages 162-167 to note the influence of politics and local control.
  

FINANCING EDUCATION: SOURCES OF FUNDS AND THE MOVE FROM EQUITY TO ADEQUACY

• Money to support education comes from a variety of taxes paid to local, state and federal governments.  The government in turn distributes tax money to local school districts to operate the schools.  See figure 5.7 on page 168.
• Property tax is a tax based on the value of property, both real estate and personal.
• Read the debate on pages 173-174 on the issue of school fund-raising..
• See figures 5.7 and 5.8 on pages 175-176 depicting school expenditure levels.
• Perennial school financial issues: increasing enrollments, taxpayer revolt, and conditions of the schools.
• Accountability: schools obligation to take responsibility for what students learn.
• Chapter summary found on pages 182-185.