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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                    Con: Community Control
•   Community control will make           •   It is questionable whether
    teachers and administrators               community groups who often
    accountable to parents and                have their own hidden agendas,
    community residents, where the            can objectively assess the
    authority truly belongs.                  performance of teachers and
•   Community control will lead to            administrators.
    greater educational innovation        •   Community school boards are too
    and help streamline existing              focused on politics and self-
    school bureaucracies.                     interest to take the necessary steps
•   Community control will lead to            required for educational
    greater public participation in the       innovation.
    schools, especially from the          •   Most people, including parents,
    parents of children who are               have little time, as it is to
    failing.                                  participate in school affairs. The
•   Only strict community control             increased responsibility
    will compel local school boards to        demanded by community control
    hire principals and                       will discourage parental
    superintendents who can relate to         involvement.
    the diverse backgrounds of the        •   Community control will result in
    children they are serving.                hiring and promotion patterns
•   Under community control,                  based on race and ethnicity rather
    schools will develop instructional        than on merit.
    programs that raise student           •   Community control may actually
    achievement and increase cultural         hinder student achievement by
    pride among minority groups.              favoring cultural programs over
•   Community control will increase           academic programs.
    participatory democracy and the       •   Community control leads to
    power of the people.                      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 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
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.

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Politics in education, Dr. W.A. Kritsonis

  • 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 Con: Community Control • Community control will make • It is questionable whether teachers and administrators community groups who often accountable to parents and have their own hidden agendas, community residents, where the can objectively assess the authority truly belongs. performance of teachers and • Community control will lead to administrators. greater educational innovation • Community school boards are too and help streamline existing focused on politics and self- school bureaucracies. interest to take the necessary steps • Community control will lead to required for educational greater public participation in the innovation. schools, especially from the • Most people, including parents, parents of children who are have little time, as it is to failing. participate in school affairs. The • Only strict community control increased responsibility will compel local school boards to demanded by community control hire principals and will discourage parental superintendents who can relate to involvement. the diverse backgrounds of the • Community control will result in children they are serving. hiring and promotion patterns • Under community control, based on race and ethnicity rather schools will develop instructional than on merit. programs that raise student • Community control may actually achievement and increase cultural hinder student achievement by pride among minority groups. favoring cultural programs over • Community control will increase academic programs. participatory democracy and the • Community control leads to power of the people. 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.