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Comparing State Educational Resources
-An Overview-
The factors described before influence school quality and effectiveness in every state, but as you are probably aware, public school systems differ in certain ways from one state to another.
The most obvious differences are due, of course, to the variations in states' resources.
For example, Connecticut has a much higher tax base than Louisiana, and consequently, can make more dollars available for instructional materials, teacher salaries, and facilities.
You may not know about the differences stemming from the diverse ways that states organize their school systems.
For example, in most states each town has its own school system, but in Florida, Georgia, and West Virginia (among others), schools are organized on a COUNTYWIDE basis.
As a result, the school systems in those states tend to be very large, both geographically and in numbers of students.
Consequently, if a family moves from Massachusetts to Florida, children may experience culture shock in the new school system.
Accustomed back home to a small system in which officials were easy to contact, the family will now have to learn to cope with a large educational bureaucracy.
Even the terms school officials use can vary from state to state.
For example, not every state uses the term SCHOOL DISTRICT or SCHOOL SYSTEM.
In Virginia, school systems are called DIVISIONS; in Louisiana, they are known as PARISHES.
In Indiana, some schools are known as CORPORATIONS, while in Texas great pride is taken in distinguishing school systems as INDEPENDENT, and New York uses the term FREE SCHOOL DISTRICT.
Moreover, in over a dozen states some school systems are identified by number as frequently as by a name.
If a family moves to Arizona, California, or Illinois, they may be surprised to find that in many communities the elementary schools and high schools are in separate systems.
These states have laws that provide for elementary, secondary, and unified school systems.
Likewise, if a family moves to Massachusetts or New Jersey, they may encounter so-called regional high school districts.
In all of these areas, remember that the management of a fourth-grader's school may be totally different from that of an eleventh-grader's school.
In some states such as Ohio, local school systems fall under certain jurisdictional restraints within county education agencies, while city and "exempted village" systems are subject directly to state laws and standards.
In Virginia, most school board members are appointed by partisan political officials rather than elected by the general public.
In a few places in the country, even local school superintendents are chosen by election.
State superintendents of schools tend to be appointed by elected boards, appointed by the governor, or elected by the public at large.
In states where politics play a large role in the governance of schools, you need to be prepared for significant swings in school operations.
Colorado, Iowa, Michigan, New York, Oregon, Pennsylvania, and Texas are leaders in organizing educational resource cooperatives.
These states supplement the services of local school systems with organizations known as intermediate units or boards of cooperative educational services.
Those agencies enhance the ability of local school systems to provide effective curriculum development, shared computer services, and programs for children with special learning needs.
They can also benefit taxpayers through cost-saving cooperative purchasing.
In the early 1970s, the U.S. Office of Education funded a study of public school governance in the various states.
The participating researchers, led by noted scholar Dr. Roald F. Campbell, documented for the first time the vast differences in how states organize educational resources.
In his conclusions, Dr. Campbell indicated that the school "governance structure" has a great impact on the quality of education.
For example, a state school superintendent appointed by a governor may or may not be knowledgeable about education.
Similarly, an elected superintendent who has been in office for several years may resist making needed changes in the status quo.
As a result of public pressure, a few states now publish comparative information about individual school systems.
New Jersey, for example, now distributes such figures.
Unfortunately, however, its school "profiles" cover items such as attendance rates, test scores, and per-pupil costs in a form that many lay people find very confusing.
Moreover, New Jersey's efforts have created a good deal of controversy.
One of the state's leading newspapers, THE RECORD, commented that "the same state school officials who released the report are cautioning against comparisons," and "because the report cards are limited to objective data, many educators feel they do more harm than good...."
Three issues that have had great impact on school systems across the country are educational technology, educational leadership, and school choice.
In most states, EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP initiatives focus on training programs for school principals, administrators, and board members.
EDUCATIONAL TECHNOLOGY initiatives include providing access to interactive television and computers.
Several times the term "distance learning" is used; this describes a system where many students from remote areas can interact with a teacher via various audio/visual combinations.
Such systems are particularly useful in smaller schools because they give students access to sophisticated course offerings that are found only in larger, more comprehensive schools.
The SCHOOL CHOICE movement has provided parents and students with a variety of educational opportunities and programs, ranging from magnet schools for the performing arts to rigorously structured college preparatory schools.
Education policies and organizational structures can change frequently and rapidly due to changes in political parties, economic situations, technological advances, and a host of other factors.
This chapter is intended to provide only a general overview of the major differences among states.
Because SchoolMatch® data is updated continuously, and because we have access to information from every state and every school system in the country, our consultants are always aware of current statewide education policies and initiatives. |
