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Section 1.2 Decision-Making in Education Systems

2.2.7 - Identify how decisions are made in education systems.

The decision making process is essential in equalizing the education system. These

decisions are made on three different levels: Federal, State and Local. The Federal level is in

charge of decisions that will affect all school districts in all states such as federal funding. The

State level is responsible for making choices that affect the school districts in that state. They can

allocate state resources and determine teacher requirements. Finally, the Local level makes

decisions that only affect the specific school districts in the area. Local levels can determine area

taxes and new school placements.

The Federal government makes several decisions that affect all school districts in all

states. In 1983, the federal government enacted A Nation at Risk to fix the failing school systems.

This was a major act that increased the rigor of the curriculum (1.2.3). This changed the

curriculum in all school districts. The teachers had to change what they were teaching and

students had to become used to the harder curriculum. The State government makes several

choices that affect that state's school districts. These choices might include state funding and

teacher requirements. Teacher requirements affect all the school districts ability to hire teachers

depending on their experience and teaching license. The Local government has the most

influence on the school districts in the area. They decide where new schools are built, how the

state funding will be distributed between districts and schools and decide on area taxes. The local

level also gets the most input from the community. Many school boards have meetings where

members of the community can vote on school zones and property taxes and other topics that

affect the school district and community.

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I had the opportunity to watch a school board of education meeting. In this meeting, they

had to decide who would be the Board President and Vice President. They asked for nominations

for the president. The Board then had someone second the nomination and voted on the

president. This process was repeated for the Vice President as well. The board also voted on

approval of the agenda and the schedule (1.2.4). A board member had to second to agenda and

schedule and then vote on it. The school board then discussed topics on federal and state laws.

Everyone who attended had the opportunity to state their opinion on the topics and help come up

solutions that helped the school district. The decisions on who would become school board

president and vice president had a great impact on the members of the school board because this

person was now in charge of leading the meetings and led the school board in major decisions. It

also affected the superintendent, principals, teachers, students and parents. A possible positive

impact that electing a certain person as president could be is responsible funding allocation. The

president could make sure that all resources and funding are distributed fairly among the schools

in the district and that all schools are content. A possible negative impact that the election could

have on the school district would be disagreements made among the board and unable to make

decisions if the board members did not approve of the president. Not many decisions would be

made and there could be several setbacks.

Decision making in the educational world is difficult because the decision could affect

the schools and districts positively or negatively. All three levels, Federal, State, and Local, have

major roles that help to decide the equality and quality of the education system. Making the

decisions on funding, taxes, new school placement, teacher requirements, etc can impact the

education system.