The Implementation of School Policies, Essay Example

In the implementation of school policies I have come to appreciate the importance of improved understanding of politics.  In the formulation of our own educational policies we have identified a number of political areas that merit attention.  These themes range from: (i) who actually owns and controls the decisions that are made on behalf of the schools? (ii) Understanding the required reforms to teacher certification (iii) the trend of free choice applicable to school funding and (iv) improved understanding of school reforms stemming from the NCLB.

Decision making: There are a number of different decision making bodies that impact school regulations and operational procedures. These range from Local Education Agencies (LEA’s), The State Board of Education and Federal Law.  There is a certain hierarchy here but on occasions they conflict. The Local Boards of the LEA’s provide most operational decisions impacting the school but on occasions we experience delays in getting information owing to political considerations and this sometimes places us in a reactive state as opposed to that of being proactive.

Teacher certification: There is a long standing debate over teacher certification and quality. Many teachers entering the profession are not coming from the top tier of academics and the classrooms are becoming increasingly filled with uncertified teachers and long term substitutes.  This has also been linked to the remuneration of teachers and as such enters the political decision making arena.

School funding: Our situation is not that different from the State of Michigan and elsewhere across the USA.  Any increase in the Districts per pupil allowance is determined by such items as sales tax revenue, property taxes and other State revenues. The recession has created a downturn in property tax revenue and this has created considerable financial challenges for the schools.  This has made our financial planning look bleak and once again we are drawn into the Educational political arena.

School reforms:  An example of this is the implementation of the “No Child left behind Act” and the school leadership reforms necessary to accomplish it. The State of Utah has challenged this and stands to lose $116 million in Federal Aid.  An example of decision making in the State Board of Education challenging Federal Law and leaving the School leadership to deal with the aftermath of the decision.