The Major Education Policy Actors

Chapter 6Policy Studies for Educational Leaders-Frances Fowler

By Margaret Tamburro

Policy Actors-individuals or groups who are actively involved in the policy process.

Federal-State-Local LevelsState Level: Why

Education is reserved to the states by the Tenth Amendment of the US Constitution.

Tenth Amendment protects the citizens rights, It helps to keep balance of power between the federal and state governments.

The State Policy Actors are more important than Federal ones regarding Education.

The Dramatis Personae of the Policy Drama

Government Actors-Legislative BranchFunction:

• The development and passage of statutes, (one type of law.)• Review existing laws, to determine if they continue or to amend or

repeal it. • Approving the governments budget.• Establishing task forces or appoint commissions to study a policy issue. • Establish special committee to oversee the implementation of a new

piece of legislation.

Structure:US Congress and 49 States are bicameral-2 chambers.

• Senate-smaller chamber• Offices-President, Lieutenant Governor.

• House of Representatives-larger chamber (Assembly, General Assembly, House of Delegates.)

Offices: Speaker, Majority Leader, Minority Leader• Committee-perform most of the work of the legislature. (highways,

prisons, welfare, education and justice system.)• Political Party Caucuses-develops the policy agenda that the party

pursues in the legislature.

Legislative Staff◦ Includes-clerical staff, centralized staff agency.

Function:◦ They screen, filter and summarize all materials that

reach a legislative office. ◦ Work with the constituents in writing letters and

making phone calls to help individual mayors with grants.

◦ Review and analyze budgets. ◦ Legislative research bureau-drafts sample bills and

research legal questions.Important Actors:

• Educational CommitteeDevelop education laws, review existing

legislation and hold hearings on education policy issues. • Finance Committee-state budget in education• Powerful Speaker-impact what education polices are

developed.

Governors◦ Institutional Power-the authority granted the

governor by the state constitution and state laws.◦ More powerful if elected by a landslide.◦ More powerful if they belong to a powerful

political party vs a minority party.

National Governors Association (NGA)Conducts research, engages in lobbying and

provides services to state governments. Education Policy-develops and implements

new policies (No Child Left Behind Act of 2011.) Common Core State Standards

Executive Branch

State Board of Education (SBE)• Responsible for K-12 and vocational education.

Tasks:• Developing/approving- rules and regulations for

education laws.• Developing certification requirements K-12

teachers and administrators• Approving and monitoring assessment programs• Deciding on HS requirements for graduation• Determining accreditation standards.

Executive Positions: Chief State School Officers (CSSO) • A public official charged with the supervision of public

education. (Superintendent of Public Instruction, the State Superintendent of Schools or the Commissioner of Education.)

State Departments of Education (SDE)• Important in the Education Policy Process.• Provide Education committees with data.• Provide the assessments of the impact of a proposed

policy. • Detail the rules and regulations during implementation

of a new law.• Oversees and monitors the compliance of a new law.• May ignore or block legislation, or it may opt to dilute

the rules when writing them.

State Court Systems◦ 2 tiered systems-Trial courts and Supreme court

(11 States)◦ 3 Tiered System-Intermediate Appellate Court,

Trial and Supreme. (39 States.)◦ Higher courts take cases only on appeal from

lower courts, rule on the correctness of the lower courts.

◦ Judges can have influence over education policy.

The Judicial Branch

Local Boards of EducationPlay a central role in education policy making. State-sets curriculum standards, requiring students to

pass state tests, data collection and publish state report cards.

Tasks:• Develop policies suited to their district.

(Ex. State requires minimum of 180 days, but local board determines when school begins, ends and vacation

dates. • Implementation of state-mandated policies. • Local Boards can influence the success or failure of state

policy by the way they implement them. • (Local Board can decide how much emphasis to place on

the new policy.)

Local Government Actors

Superintendent◦ Appointed by the School Board.◦ A former teacher and administrator. ◦ Crises for Superintendents-

Why: ??Age is increasingShorter length of time in office than used be. Increased pressure from the state

governments to implement mandates that usually are unfunded.

Interest Groups-What They are and What They Do An association of individuals or organizations that

attempts to influence public policy in its favor.

Education Interest Groups◦ National Education Association (NEA) 3.2 million

members◦ American Federation of Teachers (AFT) 1.3 million

members◦ National School Boards Association(NSBA) 90,000

members◦ American Association of School Administrators (AASA)

13,000 members◦ Parent Teacher Association (PTA) 5 million members.

Nongovernmental Policy Actors

Non-Education Interest Groups◦ Business Lobby-most influential policy actors in

every state capital.◦ Ethnic Based-usually interested on policy relating to

them. ◦ Religious Based

Examples :Chamber of Commerce, trade associations, service industries, Farm Bureau, National Association of Manufacturers.Children’s Defense Fund Conference of Catholic Bishops, Christian Coalition or the Anti-Defamation League. Single Issue Ideological Groups such as anti-abortion organizations.

Policy NetworksGroups interested in education policy. They

coordinate a wide range of efforts to influence policy.

Example:Education Commission of the State (ECS)

(1966 Mission to help state leaders identify, develop, and implement public policy for education.)

Children’s Defense Fund-purpose to be strong, effective, independent voice for all the children of America.

Think Tanks-Policy Planning Organizations◦ Gather data about public policy issues and

communicate their findings to the government. ◦ Decide what problems to study, select sources of

information about them and summarize their results of their research, than decide which to consider.

Think Tanks are the most important actors in the policy process.

Center for Education Policy, Consortium for Policy Research in Education, Carnegie Corporation of New York, Rockefeller Foundation.

Policy Planning Organizations

Outspoken advocates of a specific policy proposal.

Speak up and lobby for a specific policy. Not all work for the Think Tanks, some may

be government employees, politicians or academics.

Those funded by Think Tanks play a role in education policy innovations.

Policy entrepreneurs play an important role in getting the ideas onto government agendas.

Policy Entrepreneurs

Report on policy issues and some stages of the policy process, but are also important actors.

Print News Agencies Broadcast Internet On-Line Services

Media agenda-leads the general public and political figures to become so concerned that they insist it be addressed.

Public Agenda-General public-little interest or great interest.

The Media

News Agencies:Internationally:Provide news stories, background

information, and pictures to media outlets around the world.

◦Associated Press, Reuters and Agence France Preese.

National:Television channels, Online services.

Radio has a dual focus-national and local.

To be effective with your Policy Actors, you need to know :

Who they are?Where they can be reached?Who should be contacted about specific

issues?

Locating Elected Government Officials• District office, telephone book, public library,

the internet, League of Women Voters, Politicians’ offices, newspapers

Identifying and Learning about Policy Actors

Identifying Appointed Officials and Groups • State Departments of Education directory-

they publish a handbook for administrators in the state. (includes SDE, CSSO, SBE.)

• Telephone Book of State Capital• Organizational Headquarters-flyers,

brochures or searching their website.

Identifying Policy Planning and Related Organizations• Recent policy reports, Newspapers, Education

week and the internet.

To follow state education policymaking:◦ Newspapers

◦ Newspapers published in the state capital and any prestige newspapers : New York Times, the Philadelphia Inquirer or Los Angeles Times.

◦ Monitor Interest Groups’ websites-NSBA, NEA, AFT

◦ Hot Lines- to hear recorded messages of status updates on pertinent bills.

WWW.USA.GovState, Local and Tribal GovernmentsContact Federal GovernmentContact Elected OfficialsInterest Groups

Subscribe to get Email Updates from local officials to stay current on issues affecting education.

Local Government Web Sites