Federalism

Education is the key to our future and that is why it is such an important subject in the United States. Education relates to federalism by interacting with the national government, state governments, and local governments. Each level of government is responsible for improving education within their limits of power.

The national government has been helping to improve and regulate education since 1965 when they passed the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). The main purpose of this act was to help America's disadvantaged students that lived in poverty. The ESEA helped improve education from grades k-12 across the United States for thirty six years. When Congress approached the same program in 2001 it was reauthorized and improved (Exceptional Parent p70). As of 2001 the ESEA became known as the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). This new act sparked an entirely new level in the effectiveness of educational systems. The NCLB's first action was helping the students with the lowest achievement levels to improve academically. The main goal of the NCLB is for every student to obtain proficient math and reading levels by 2014 (Exceptional Parent p70). In order for the NCLB to reach this goal they have set up a list of requirements for the states to follow. All states are required to: develop equally challenging academic standards for each student, ensure the quality of school teachers, regulate the academic progress of students to ensure their math and reading levels meet standards, and to ensure that disabled students have all the tools they require (Exceptional Parent p70). In 2004 the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) became in conjunction with the NCLB to ensure the educational liability for special education students (Exceptional Parent p70). The NCLB and IDEA are working together to promote more effective and efficient special education programs to help students. "While NCLB seeks to improve the education of all children--with an emphasis on children from low-income families--IDEA focuses on the individual child and seeks to ensure specialized services for children with disabilities so that they may benefit from education" (Exceptional Parent p70). A student's Individual Education Plan (IEP) team decides whether or not to put the student in general or special education programs. However, if the IEP team decides not to put the student in general assessments they must explain their reasoning and provide an alternate assessment for the student (Exceptional Parent p70). The national government's attempts to improve education through these programs have not only been successful, but they have also started new ideas to build on. On August 9, 2007 President Bush passed a new act into law that will provide a vast amount of funding for scientific education (BioScience p654). "The Senate and the House of Representatives passed legislation authorizing $43.3 billion for science and science education programs." The passing of America Creating Opportunities to Meaningfully Promote Excellence in Technology, Education, and Science Act (America COMPETES), known as HR 2272, is the result of the legislation that has been running through Congress for the past 1.5 years (BioScience p654). The given purpose for America COMPETES is to act as a response to the recommendations in the 2005 National Academies report "Rising Above the Gathering Storm." While this new act will vastly improve the specified programs it can also have a downside. "Representative Ralph M. Hall (R-TX), the ranking Republican on the Science and Technology Committee, expressed his concern about the cost of the final measure: 'I ... tried in Committee and in Conference to address these concerns. First and foremost was the cost. The House passed a $24 billion bill that roughly mirrored the President's ACI [American Competitive Initiative] ... and even increased the budget in many areas. However, this conference report goes way beyond that amount to authorize $43.3 billion in spending.'" (BioScience p654). Overall, the national government works it's hardest to improve education in every way possible.

State governments play a huge role in supporting and improving education by introducing new programs and executing new ideas. Many state agencies have been evaluating various ideas for addressing the Office of Special Education Program's (OSEP) requirements for calculating outcomes for children in preschool (Topics Childhood p34). The Office of Special Education Programs breaks down their performance into three outcomes. These three outcomes consist of: "acquisition and use of knowledge and skills (including language and early literacy); positive social-emotional skills including social relationships; and use of appropriate behaviors to meet needs" (Topics Childhood p34). The measuring of outcomes based on a child's performance has become a growing issue among states. When planning a statewide process for calculating child outcomes, Pennsylvania decided to use a broad-based approach to receive information about recent practices and to create opportunities for practitioner input (Topics Childhood p34). Developing this policy was a well thought-out and lengthy process. "Policymakers were committed to developing a system that had the following properties: (a) used a common process for measuring child progress across programs for children with disabilities (e.g., Part C; Section 619) and general early care and education programs (e.g., childcare, pre-kindergarten); (b) was appropriate for children birth to kindergarten age; (c) linked with child eligibility determinations; and (d) employed local-level practitioners as data collectors without placing an extra burden on local-level administrators and staff" (Topics Childhood p34). Another key component to this process is the decision about test instruments. All instruments selected must be thought of as appropriate and meaningful by a local-level practitioner. It must also provide valuable information about child performance, and it must follow the lines of the recommended practices. While not all the requirements were met it was still decided that one or more instruments would be used in all the programs across the state (Topics Childhood p34). However, Pennsylvania is only one of many states helping to improve education. Throughout the past 17 years the Commonwealth of Kentucky has meet educational standards through two reforms. "In 1990, the Kentucky General Assembly passed the Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA) and provided funding for sweeping changes in school practices to equalize educational opportunity for all students" (Topics Childhood