Politics in Education

William Allan Kritsonis, PhD

Potential Questions:

1. Describe the forces in the typical community that affect the school.

2. Explain the role of the federal government in its involvement with

public schools.

3. Explain the role that the state government plays in the organization

of public schools.

4. Describe the powers of school boards.

5. List the pros and cons of the American Concept of local control of

education.

6. Discuss the pros, cons, and alternatives of state takeovers of

schools.

Politics in Education

“Oh, yes indeed. There is politics in education. There’s ‘big P’ politics

which includes legislators and state department requirements, and there’s

‘little p’ politics which is how things get done everyday in schools and

school districts.”

(Lindle, 1994)

Politics reminds us that as a public institution, schools are more, not

less, susceptible to the conflicts, ploys, and tactics of various internal and

external interest groups. Schools are perhaps the most accessible public

arena for individuals and groups to pursue their interests. Schools are

brokers, storehouses, and communicators of knowledge. Knowledge is a

high commodity for people’s futures. Power and definitions of value are

embedded in education. Knowledge, power, and conflict are the traditional

subjects of politics. Educational politics is the study of people’s strategies

for accessing, managing, and achieving schooling.

Summary of the Political Governing and Administering Public Education

The governance of education is organized on four governmental

levels: local, intermediate (in some states), state and federal. Schools are

organized into school districts; today there are approximately 15,000 public

school systems operating in the United States.

Local Control

At the local level, the school board, the school superintendent, the

central office staff, and school principals all take part in governing and

administering the schools. In many communities, board members run a

political campaign for office, stating their opinions on educational issues,

personnel decisions, and anything else pertaining to schools. So, people

who believe they will represent their views on the board elect these board

members. Teacher unions certainly participate in this election process,

either directly by donating money for the campaigns and endorsing

candidates publicly or by encouraging their members to support certain

people at the polls.

Educators have made a number of efforts to increase the involvement

of parents and community members in the schools. Programs for school-

based management often include a greater role for parents and community

members. Other forms of public involvement include community

participation and community control.

Recently, the idea of community control has resurfaced as a thorny

political issue. Following is a comparison of the pros and cons of the

question, “Will increased community control of schools improve

education?”

Pro: Community Control Community control will make

teachers and administrators accountable to parents and community residents, where the authority truly belongs.

Community control will lead to greater educational innovation and help streamline existing school bureaucracies.

Community control will lead to greater public participation in the schools, especially from the parents of children who are failing.

Only strict community control will compel local school boards to hire principals and superintendents who can relate to the diverse backgrounds of the children they are serving.

Under community control, schools will develop instructional programs that raise student achievement and increase cultural pride among minority groups.

Community control will increase participatory democracy and the power of the people.

Con: Community Control It is questionable whether

community groups who often have their own hidden agendas, can objectively assess the performance of teachers and administrators.

Community school boards are too focused on politics and self-interest to take the necessary steps required for educational innovation.

Most people, including parents, have little time, as it is to participate in school affairs. The increased responsibility demanded by community control will discourage parental involvement.

Community control will result in hiring and promotion patterns based on race and ethnicity rather than on merit.

Community control may actually hinder student achievement by favoring cultural programs over academic programs.

Community control leads to extremism, vigilantism, and separationism among people.

State and Federal Control

More than half of the states have one or more intermediate units,

Region Service Centers, that support local school districts and exercise

limited regulatory powers. In most states, the legislature is primarily

responsible for establishing and maintaining public schools and has broad

powers to enact laws pertaining to school education. All states, except

Wisconsin, have state boards of education. Operating under the state boards

are the state departments of education, headed by the chief state school

officer. Overall, the federal role in education has dramatically expanded

since the 1930s. The last two decades, however, have witnessed a

movement toward reduced federal involvement.

Summary of the Political Financing of Public Education

Schools are financially supported by the state and local governments

and to a lesser extent by the federal government. Overall, since the early

twentieth century; state support has increased dramatically and local support

has declined; the percentage of federal support grew until the 1980s and then

dropped back. Since the Sputnik era, federal funding of education has

become increasingly linked to national policy. But since the 1980s, some

responsibility for educational funding has shifted from the federal

government back to the individual states.

Summary of the Political Legal Aspects of Education

Education-related court cases have significantly increased in the last

few decades. Such cases can be heard in both federal and state courts,

depending on the issues involved. Tenure protects teachers from dismissal

except on such specified grounds as incompetency, immorality,

insubordination, and unprofessional conduct. Teachers accused of such

conduct are entitled to due process protections. Teachers have the right to

form and belong to unions and other professional organizations, but most

states prohibit teachers from striking. Teachers’ rights regarding freedom of

expression and academic freedom depend on a balance between individual

and governmental interests. Teachers have rights guaranteed to individuals

under the Constitution, but school boards have obligations to ensure the

“proper” and “regular” operation of the schools, taking into account the

rights of parents, teachers, and students. The courts have clarified and

expanded such students’ rights as freedom of expression, due process in the

case of suspension or expulsion, prohibition against bodily searches in the

absence of specific grounds, limitation on corporal punishment, and privacy

of records. Organized and mandated prayer and Bible reading are not

allowed in public schools. The legal basis for government support for

nonpublic schools is mixed. Federal laws prohibit discrimination in

educational employment and programming on the grounds of race, color,

religion, national origin, and sex. School districts and teachers have an

obligation to act affirmatively in providing equal opportunity for minorities

and women.

Political Influence on Curriculum and Instruction

Curriculum is political in that state governments, locally elected

school boards, and powerful business and publishing interests exercise

enormous influence over teaching practices and curriculum policies. The

culture of the school is often representative of those features of the dominant

culture that it affirms, sustains, selects, and legitimates. The distinction

between high and low status academic subjects, the organization of

knowledge and symbolic rewards to different groups indicates how politics

work to influence the curriculum.

At the core of curricular considerations in a public, democratic system

is the question of who gets to decide curriculum issues. Thus, curricular

problems are notable due to the following two conditions: (1) a material

condition that the curriculum perpetuate our democratic society and (2) a

procedural condition that decisions about the curriculum be accomplished

democratically. The problems of what subjects to teach in school are based

on the significance we attach to public schools. The worth we attach to the

schools is founded on democratic principles that cause us to establish and

support such schools. Curricular problems are problems of democratic

principles. Participation in a democracy is characterized by political

activity. Curricular issues are more than reflections on competing

democratic principles; they also are political confrontations. The following

is a list of political events associated with curricular problems:

State and local legislation pertaining to curriculum issues,

State and local policy concerning development of local initiatives,

School board by-laws, agenda, and minutes;

Agenda and minutes from any district or school committees, which

focus on professional development and/or curriculum

development,

District-teacher contracts, especially pertaining to professional

development and curriculum development;

Any district materials for communications and public relations

concerning curriculum development;

And local media reports of district or school activities concerning

curriculum and professional development.

Besides curriculum, the area where educators often claim they find

themselves in a politicized, rather than professional, situation is the

classroom, especially in the area of supervision of instruction. Many

educators feel the very act of instruction is perhaps the most sacrosanct

element of the profession. Educators are often shocked by parents who

insist on participating in the supervision or evaluation of teaching.

Education is a public activity where the political process insinuates itself

into every aspect of the profession. So the answer to the question of whether

there is a political reason to include parents in the supervision of instruction

is yes, but with professional guidance.

Political Influence on the Business Aspect of Education

Politics always intervenes in specialized responses to the technical

issues of running a school or school system. As the second largest cost for

operating a school system, the capital expenditures for facilities, equipment,

and maintenance exist as perennial political minefields for school

administrators. During both good and bad economic periods, jobs associated

with these areas of education provide support for regional and community

fiscal development. High-stakes financial gains are associated with

educational infrastructure projects. For school leaders, local business, and

politicians, these projects create a fertile breeding ground for political graft

and intrigue under any economic conditions.

The reality of current socioeconomic conditions for most public

school systems is that local economic concerns have heightened public

awareness of the resources utilized by local schools. In many areas where

the economy is depressed, the local tax base has vanished with the closing of

factories and businesses. As corporations leave communities, the largest

operating concerns that remain are local government and the local school

system. Both are notorious consumers of resources. Taxpayers are often

hard-pressed to compensate for vanishing corporate tax dollars. All of these

conditions heighten the political nature of school planning in general and

large price tag programs in particular.

The business side of school systems represents a highly politicized

environment because schools are concurrently economic liabilities and

assets for their communities. School finances, facilities, and futures are

potential political problems. School administrators have a number of

political tools for resolving school business management issues. Among

those tools are an understanding of the non-rational nature of school

business and skills in rhetoric and negotiations.

The Politics of Evaluation

Accountability, achievement, assessment, and evaluation are hot

topics for today’s educators. The dilemma embodied by these issues is a

result of the public nature of education in a free society. Because public

money supports elementary and secondary schools, public officials are

pressured by taxpayers to show results.

In the case of schools, educators are public officials. Yet most are not

trained to regard themselves as public servants or public officials. Perhaps

due to this lack of awareness, educators are low on the pecking order of

public officials. Federal, state, and local agencies all pass on taxpayers’

demands for results to teachers and administrators.

All evaluation mechanisms are political in nature and designed to

justify continued political support for public education. Evaluation and

assessment are required for accountability. Accountability is a requirement

for maintaining public trust. The public demands accountability in

education because of the tremendous investment of public resources. The

public resources invested in education include more than tax dollars. These

investments include the human resource of children, the embodiment of the

public future. Requests for accountability are demands that the public’s trust

in making these investments are fulfilled. The public requests information,

which legitimates its continued support for education. Trust and information

are both the ends and means of any accountability process.

Trust and information are ripe media for political activity. Tension

and conflict characterize political activity. Tension and conflict surround

evaluation and accountability.

Evaluation, accountability, and assessment are value-laden activities

and political processes. All involve the use of information for decision

making. Access to information is differentially granted on the basis of

power and trust. Use of information is also based on trust in the data,

interpretation, and confidentiality of the researcher. Technical expertise

only plays a minor role in the political world of accountability, assessment,

and evaluation.

The Politics of Discipline

Discipline in schools can be a political concern. The media reports of

random violence in schools have increased to daily bulletins; gunmen

shooting children in schools and cafeterias; students shooting other students

and teachers; teachers turning guns on colleagues and administrators. As a

reminder that these are not solely school-based problems, reports of

apparently random shootings also issue from malls, fast-food restaurants,

commuter trains, and department stores. The concurrence of these reports

demonstrates that there are political connections to the issue of discipline in

schools. Student discipline not only affects the educational environment, but

the curriculum as well. Schools should view discipline not as an incidental

process to schooling, but as an integral part of the curriculum. Discipline is

a social and political process in schools.

School and Community Political Relations

Schools are not singularly connected to the public via one open

channel. Schools interface with the public along multiple paths, intended

and unintended. Schools and communities connect at two important levels.

The primary association is with students and their families. The secondary

link is to business, community, and government.

The community is subdivided into agencies, cultural subgroups,

religious denominations, political organizations, and socioeconomic classes.

In any one community, the Chamber of Commerce does not represent all the

local businesses. The average citizen is well aware of the tangle of offices

sheltered by the massive government. As a result of this mess, schools tend

to invest resources in less confusing enterprises than communicating with

community, business, and government. Unfortunately, school-community

relations suffer from the lack of resources, and ultimately, students suffer

from the schools’ disengagement from the community.

Personnel Issues and Politics

Personnel administration can dominate interactions because of

politics. The conditions of personnel administration that lead to political

activity are issues dealing with public service, ethics, power, and

communications. Personnel decisions frequently are the result of an

unstable environment. Personnel issues are almost always associated with

morale. In education, the issue of morale is extraordinarily sensitive because

teaching is so labor intensive. Anyone is education is on public display, and

the rules of behavior are different for public figures than for private citizens.

Personnel issues are always personal. Personal matters stimulate

political behavior. In any job action, school administrators have to

recognize the public nature of their positions and be willing to handle the

situation under constraints that average citizens do not have. There are three

beliefs that might support school leaders in political situations:

1. Standards for performance as an educational leader are different

than the standards for subordinates or community members.

2. There is more political clout in a significant, principled position

than in an honest, but simplistic one.

3. It isn’t knowledge that’s power; it’s multiple channels for

information that insure omnipotence.

Related Websites to "Political Influences on Education"

The Politics of Education: An Interview with Benjamin Barber http://www.scottlondon.com/interviews/barber.html

The Governance of Curriculumhttp://www.ascd.org/readingroom/books/elmore94book.html

Politics Watch 2000http://www.edweek.org/context/politics/politics2000.htm

The 33rd Annual Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup Poll Of the Public's Attitudes Toward the Public SchoolsBy Lowell C. Rose and Alec M. Galluphttp://www.pdkintl.org/kappan/k0109gal.htm#7a

The 11th Bracey Report on The Condition of Public EducationBy Gerald W. Braceyhttp://www.pdkintl.org/kappan/k0110bra.htm

Conflicting Missions? Teachers Unions and Educational Reformhttp://www.gse.harvard.edu/~hepg/p01.htm#love

Do Teacher Unions Hinder Educational Performance? Lessons Learned from State SAT and ACT Scoreshttp://www.gse.harvard.edu/~hepg/wi00.htm#steel

The Gender Politics of Educational Change http://www.gse.harvard.edu/~hepg/wi00.htm#dat

The Academy of Politics "Oscars" Awards Political Notables from the Year 2000http://www.aera.net/gov/archive/n0300-03.htm

Political Chatter 2000http://www.aera.net/gov/archive/chatter.htm

Improving Federal Education Research: A View From the Househttp://www.aera.net/gov/archive/n0600-01.htm

References

Lindle, Jane C. (1994). Surviving School Micropolitics: Strategies for

Administrators. Lancaster, PA: Technomic Publishing Co., Inc.

Ornstein, A., and Levine, D. Foundations of Education: 6 th Edition .

Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company.

Sharp, W., and Walter, J. (1997). The School Superintendent: The

Profession and the Person. Lancaster, PA: Technomic Publishing Co., Inc.