On the Issues: Education

1. On the Issues: Education AP US Government Mrs. Lacks

2. State Issue • Each state has a DOE (Dept of Education) • http://www.doe.virginia.gov/ • Sets up and maintains public schools based on population • 2268 public schools in VA • http://www.doe.virginia.gov/directories/index.shtml#schools • Creates and issues curriculum for all required classes • http://www.doe.virginia.gov/testing/sol/standards_docs/history_socialscience/next_version/stds_va_usgov.pdf • Sets requirements for teacher licensure • How funds are distributed - http://www.doe.virginia.gov/statistics_reports/supts_annual_report/2010_11/table14.pdf

3. State Issue • Employs certified people on all levels (custodians, bus drivers, aides, teachers, data techs, principals, superintendents, etc.) • Establishes pay and benefits scales (by county/city) • http://www.doe.virginia.gov/statistics_reports/supts_annual_report/2010_11/table19.pdf (teacher salaries) • Reports all data to the general public • http://www.doe.virginia.gov/statistics_reports/supts_annual_report/2010_11/table05.pdf (graduation rates by county/city) • School report cards • https://p1pe.doe.virginia.gov/reportcard/report.do?division=1&schoolName=All (Accomack Co) • http://www.ncpsk12.com/files/filesystem/Division%20Report%20Card.11.12.rev.pdf • (Northampton Co)

4. Education is expensive! • Northampton Co (2011 – 2012) • State Per Pupil Amount: $ 5,032 • Federal Per Pupil Amount: $ 1,885 • Local Per Pupil Amount: $ 4,874 • Total Per Pupil Amount: $11,792

5. Federal Government Intervention • Federally mandated education programs • ESEA (NCLB) • IDEA (disabilities) • Safe & Drug Free Schools Act • Perkins Career & Technical Education Act

6. National Defense Education Act (NDEA) • 1958 • Law to push the teaching of math and science • Influenced by launch of Sputnik in 1957

7. Elementary & Secondary Education Act (ESEA) • 1965 – part of LBJ’s War on Poverty • Funds primary and secondary education, while forbidding the implementation of a national curriculum • Pushes equal access to education • Aims to shorten achievement gaps without lowering standards • Provides $ for professional development, instructional materials, educational programs, etc.

8. Title IX (Education Act of 1972) • “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.”

9. No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) • NCLB is the 2001 bipartisan law intended to improve K-12 schools, under the theory of standards-based education reform. • States are required to establish standardized testing, so that all high school graduates meet the test criteria. • States are also required to give options (school choice) to students who attend schools that fail to meet NCLB's Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP).

10. No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) • Accomack Co – All schools made AYP EXCEPT Kegotank, Metompkin, & Puncoteague elementary schools (2010) • Northampton Co – no schools made AYP (2011 – 2012)

11. No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) • The controversy over NCLB currently focuses on funding: • Opponents of NCLB argue that states are provided inadequate federal funding for implementation of NCLB, and that therefore NCLB represents an "unfunded mandate" on states. • Proponents of NCLB argue that the law provides accountability for schools; fights against incompetent teachers; and provides alternatives to failing schools. • Progress is measured in the federal National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), commonly knows as the "Nation's Report Card.“

12. School Choice • Public (publicly funded & run) • Private (privately funded & run, tax discount) • Parochial (privately funded & run) • Charter (publicly funded, publicly controlled, privately run) • Home

13. Vouchers • ‘Vouchers’ are a means of implementing school choice -- parents are given a ‘voucher’ by the school district, which entitles them to, say, $4,000 applicable to either public school or private school tuition. • The value of the voucher is generally lower than the cost of one year of public education (which averages $5,200), so private schools (where tuition averages $8,500) may require cash payment in addition to the voucher.

14. K – 12 Education Stats (national) • Total spending is $260 billion, (7% federal; the rest split state & local) rising by 5% per year. • Student population is 50 million, rising slowly (1 million per year) since 1984. • 90% attend public schools; about 6 million attend private & parochial schools. • 78% of schools have Internet access; 97% plan to by the year 2000. • 27% of classrooms have Internet access; lower in poor and minority schools.

15. Higher Ed Stats • 61% of high school graduates continue on to some post-secondary education. • 43% enroll at 4-year colleges; 33% graduate college. • Race strongly determines the percentage enrolling at college • Socioeconomic status even more strongly determines percentage enrolling at college (19% from the poorest ¼ of families vs. 70% from the richest ¼ of families).

16. Multiple Choice • Title IX of the Education Act of 1972

a. prohibits single-sex educational institutions and schools.
b. requires gender parity in public school enrollments.
c. allows gender discrimination in education if it can be demonstrated to be an "educational necessity."
d. requires public school institutions to demonstrate equal average scores among male and female students on standardized tests.
e. forbids gender discrimination in federally subsidized education programs, including athletics.

17. Multiple Choice • In Brown v. Board of Education (1954), the Supreme Court

a. ruled that school segregation was inherently unequal.
b. enunciated the principle of equal but separate.
c. ruled that the visible signs of education were substantially equal between Black schools and White ones.
d. enunciated the principle of separate but equal.
e. ordered the Topeka school district to spend more money on Black schools.

18. Multiple Choice • De jure educational segregation occurs

a. from day-to-day depending on changing enrollments at a particular school.
b. by constitutional amendment.
c. by law.
d. by the reality of neighborhood schools located in areas that happen to be racially segregated.
e. by forced school busing to integrate the races.

19. Multiple Choice • De facto educational segregation occurs

a. by forced school busing to integrate the races.
b. when segregated classrooms occur within an integrated school.
c. by the reality of neighborhood schools located in areas that happen to be racially segregated.
d. by law.
e. by forced school busing to separate the races.