Chapter 6 Eroding Local Control This multimedia product and its contents are protected under...

Chapter 6

Eroding Local Control

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Copyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008

Diminishing Local Control

•nationwide trend toward centralization and standardization

•state assuming firmer control in public schools

•education and equal protection clauses of states influence education funding and state legislative responsibility


Decreasing Rural Influence on Education

•“one man—one vote standard”—reduced legislative power of rural areas and increased power of cities

•less agrarian society and movement from rural areas decreased one-teacher schools


Decreasing Urban Economic Advantages

•previous financial advantage lost due to

changes in socioeconomic makeup

emigration to affluent suburbs

immigration

other social factors


School Districts: Basic Administrative Units

•local district—basic administrative unit

•school board—governing board

•superintendent—chief administrative officer

•40% states—districts dependent on another unit of government

•school district reorganization used to help financing education

range in local ability to pay reduced

state support formulas can be simplified with greater equality of

educational opportunities

larger school districts operate with greater efficiency

•each state determines kind and number of local school districts


•school size principles

small school districts indefensible in terms of aims and objectives of present-day education

small school districts inefficient

large schools cannot guarantee an efficient and/or effective school system

school size decisions reflect emotions of citizens

decentralization problems exist

•small schools issues

suffer from curriculum limitations

inability to attract the best staff

lack special services

inefficiencyCopyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008

The Administration of Local School Districts

• powers and duties of local school boards eroded and usurped by states

• preoccupation with accountability rather than local control issues

• districts leverage state policies through networking and local policy entrepreneurship

• zero-sum model—state policy increases result in equal and opposite decreases in local control

• local control by contract

operation of schools turned over to private, for-profit companies—privatization

education management organizations (EMOs)—awarded contracts to improve student achievement


•local control not guaranteed

state responsibility guaranteed by Tenth Amendment

extent and duration of local control not guaranteed


Local Fiscal Control

•local control and tax shifting

minimal tax shifting characteristic of a good tax system

court decisions, legislation and legal ruling may change focus of one tax structure, influencing another, i.e.

redevelopment projects

balancing business and residential property assessment can cause shifting

local school districts may have little control over taxing decisions

•excessive reliance on property taxes

discontinued or minimalized by states in favor of income and sales taxes

property taxes major source of local revenue

competition for local dollarCopyright © Allyn & Bacon 2008

•weakness of local control of fiscal operations

local school districts vary greatly in access to taxable resources

depend almost completely on property tax revenues

•extreme differences in districts’ ability to pay using assessed valuation of taxable property

•low income families—lack educational alternatives when schools inadequately supported

•municipal overburden

public schools and city government use same property tax base

large-city schools have more minority and special needs students

erosion of inner-city tax base


•factors related to financial problems in urban school districts

securing teachers

education of the socially and culturally deprived and special needs students accentuated

increases in city property values not kept at same pace as school expenditure increases

poor taxpaying potential of low income families

•local non-property taxes

sales, income, earning taxes used for education purposes

popular in urban centers


Advantages of Local Control

•stimulates local interest and support of education

•permits innovation and improvements of local school system


Fiscal Independence of School Districts

•city or county government places local district board under jurisdiction for local school system

•educators favor fiscally independent school boards


Trends in Local Taxation Practices

•improvement of property tax administration

•continued important source of funds for public schools

•competition among local agencies for tax dollar will increase

•urban communities will continue to suffer from revenue shortfalls without equitable allocation of funds

•efforts will be made to make property tax less regressive


Measure of Local Taxpaying Ability

•function of three variables—value of taxable property, number of pupils to be educated, willingness of taxpayer to support desired program

•state equalization programs need valid and reliable measures of local fiscal ability


Local, State and Federal Tax Responsibility

•difficulty with coordinating three taxing systems

•three systems operate tax patterns in isolation

•most states-schools received revenue locally

•states have varying degrees of responsibility for school funds

•federal-participated


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