EDUCATION POLICY

1. EDUCATION POLICY

2. Sex education • Studies consistently indicate that states with “abstinence-only” sex education programs have higher rates of teenage pregnancy than states with comprehensive programs (i.e., containing information about contraception, HIV prevention, etc.)

3. Public education • Education was historically a private responsibility (church-related schools, individual instruction) • The first public school, first mandatory attendance requirements, and first public governance of schools in the US were all established in Massachusetts. • South Carolina’s first free public schools were established in 1811. • Public education is seen as a “commons problem”: everyone in society benefits from a well-educated population, and everyone is harmed by a poorly-educated population. Therefore, we have a shared responsibility to provide for it.

4. School integration • Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954): Segregated schools are unconstitutional • “Separate but equal” is inherently unequal • Mississippi’s dual school systems spent $61 per white child for every $1 spent per black child • Alexander v. Holmes County Board of Education (1969) ordered immediate end to segregated schools • De jure(by law) segregation vs. de facto (in fact) segregation: what’s the difference and how are they dealt with differently? • Desegregation vs. integration: how far do you have to go? • Busing has been ordered as a means of integration in both de jure (Charlotte) and de facto(Boston) segregated systems.

5. School integration • Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education (1971): US Supreme Court rules busing is constitutional as a means of integration, upheld policy where each school in the district had to be within a certain percentage of the district as a whole • The CMS busing policy was overturned by a court decision in 2001; a white child was denied admission to a magnet program because she would have changed the racial balance beyond the permissible boundary, and her family sued • Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools have largely re-segregated; with white flight to the suburbs and to private schools, black children are now a majority of students in CMS.

6. Alternatives to traditional public schools • Charter schools: Publicly funded but not subject to school system regulations, can design their own programs and administrative procedures • Magnet schools: Grouped by academic interest (arts, sciences, foreign languages, etc.); can this achieve integration without busing? • Vouchers: State-funded grants which can be used for tuition at private schools (provides competition to public school systems, criticism is that voucher programs drain money from public schools)

7. Federal efforts at improving schools • Elementary and Secondary Education Act (1965): First large-scale federal involvement in K-12 public education. Reauthorized in 2001 as No Child Left Behind Act. • Title I: Directed primarily at disadvantaged children; 94% of US public schools receive funding under this program. SC received over $178 million in Title I funding in FY 2005. • Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (originally enacted 1975): Funding for special education and additional services as needed.

8. A Nation at Risk • 1983 federal report called for strengthening the quality of American public education • Higher educational standards • More rigorous content • Longer school day and school year • Standardized testing to measure progress • Increasing qualifications, salaries and opportunities for teachers • Better identification of needs of special groups (gifted and talented, socioeconomically disadvantaged, disabled, etc.)

9. Federal and state funding • Traditionally, K-12 education was entirely a state and local matter with no involvement from the federal government • Today, only about 7% of K-12 funding is federal, but a disproportionate share of the regulations that public school systems deal with come from the federal government. • Different states use different mixes of state and local funding. • Hawaii funds its entire school system (one statewide district) with state funds, while New Hampshire schools get 81% of their funds from local sources (state vs. local tax revenues).

10. South Carolina schools • Increased funding for black schools was suggested as a way of making “separate but equal” closer to actually equal, as a way of delaying/preventing desegregation • Repeal of mandatory attendance laws during fight to keep schools segregated – children were not required to attend school from 1955 to 1967 • Administrative consolidation in 1950’s – some schools had only one or two teachers, and some schools made up their own school districts • Education Accountability Act (1998): Set assessment standards for student learning and progress (PASS test fulfills testing requirements for NCLB)

11. SC school funding • Education Finance Act (1977): Guaranteed a larger share of state funding for poorer school districts while still relying on local property taxes as primary means of funding • Education Improvement Act (1984): Increased the state sales tax by 1%, with funds dedicated to public education. • South Carolina Education Lottery (2002): funding for both K-12 education and scholarships for technical schools, colleges and universities • Act 388 (2006): Increased sales tax in return for eliminating property tax on owner-occupied home. Shifted more of the burden for school funding on state rather than local sources but has not addressed inequities.

12. SC school funding and district governance • SC has 83 school districts • Almost all districts are governed by elected school boards • 23 school boards have the power to set their own tax rates for school funding • 25 districts have no such power (County Council, legislative delegation or town meeting sets tax rates) • 35 have limited authority

13. Abbeville County vs. State of South Carolina • 45 states have had lawsuits filed challenging school funding formulas on equity grounds. • In SC, 37 poorer and predominantly minority school districts sued the state challenging the proportion of funds they receive (Abbeville was first alphabetically) • 1999: SC Supreme Court ruled that there is a right under the state Constitution to a “minimally adequate” public education. • The funding formula has been in litigation ever since (Supreme Court re-heard the case in 2012). • Disadvantaged kids cost more to educate, but they tend to live in poorer areas.

14. SC School Funding • Average in FY 2007: • 47% from local sources • 43% from state sources • 10% from federal sources

15. No Child Left Behind • Federal law enacted 2001, GW Bush Administration initiative • SC received $274M in funding 2001-2005 • Still in place but Congress has deadlocked on how to reauthorize it • Requires state authorities to develop accountability standards and assessment mechanisms for learning and student progress • Schools must demonstrate Adequate Yearly Progress among different subgroups of students (defined by race, poverty, ESL, disabilities, etc.) or receive escalating sanctions • Up to 5% of each subgroup may be excluded from testing requirementes

16. NCLB Sanctions • Increasing sanctions on schools whose student subgroups don’t demonstrate AYP • 1. After two years, school must develop “school improvement plan” and students must be able to transfer to another school within the district – but what if no school in the district demonstrates AYP (which happened in Chester County a few years ago)? • 2. After three years, school is required to offer “supplemental educational services” • 3. After four years, “corrective action” which may include staffing changes, curriculum reform, extension of school day or year • 4. After five years, “restructuring” by turning into charter school, replacing staff, hiring outside management or turning it over to the state • South Carolina took over the Allendale County School District from 1998 to 2007