1. Chapter 6 Eroding Local Control
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2. 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
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3. 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
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4. Decreasing Urban Economic Advantages
previous financial advantage lost due to
changes in socioeconomic makeup
emigration to affluent suburbs
immigration
other social factors
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5. 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
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6. 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
inefficiency
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7. 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
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8. local control not guaranteed
state responsibility guaranteed by Tenth Amendment
extent and duration of local control not guaranteed
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9. 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 dollar
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10. 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
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11. 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
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12. Advantages of Local Control
stimulates local interest and support of education
permits innovation and improvements of local school system
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13. 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
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14. 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
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15. 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
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16. 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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