1. 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

2. “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.

3. 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?”

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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,

8. • 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

9. 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

10. 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.

11. 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.

12. 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.

13. 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:

14. 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.

15. 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 Curriculum
http://www.ascd.org/readingroom/books/elmore94book.html
Politics Watch 2000
http://www.edweek.org/context/politics/politics2000.htm
The 33rd Annual Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup Poll Of the Public's Attitudes
Toward the Public Schools
By Lowell C. Rose and Alec M. Gallup
http://www.pdkintl.org/kappan/k0109gal.htm#7a
The 11th Bracey Report on The Condition of Public Education
By Gerald W. Bracey
http://www.pdkintl.org/kappan/k0110bra.htm
Conflicting Missions? Teachers Unions and Educational Reform
http://www.gse.harvard.edu/~hepg/p01.htm#love
Do Teacher Unions Hinder Educational Performance? Lessons Learned
from State SAT and ACT Scores
http://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
2000
http://www.aera.net/gov/archive/n0300-03.htm
Political Chatter 2000
http://www.aera.net/gov/archive/chatter.htm
Improving Federal Education Research: A View From the House
http://www.aera.net/gov/archive/n0600-01.htm

16. 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: 6th
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.