Discuss how public schools are funded in the United States. What are some of the problem associated with this practice?
What will be an ideal response?
Feedback: State and federal governments finance and control education in part, but the bulk of the money and control for education comes from local communities. Local school boards and communities jealously guard their autonomy because they feel that local people know the special needs of their children best; local boards control allocation of monies, curricular content, and the rules for running the schools, as well as the hiring and firing of personnel. Problems with local control of school funding include: (1) The tax base, whether strong or weak, has a pronounced effect on the quality of education received. (2) Local taxes are almost the only outlet for a taxpayers' revolt. Dissatisfaction with high taxes (federal, state, and local) on income, property, and purchases is often expressed at the local level in defeated school bonds and school tax levies. (3) Typically, the composition of school boards has overrepresented the business and professional sectors and underrepresented blue-collar workers, the poor, and various minority groups, so the governing body is typically conservative in outlook and unresponsive to the wishes of people unlike themselves. (4) The religious views of the majority (or the majority of the school board) may intrude in public education.
You might also like to view...
The paradox of sociology—the power of society over its members versus the power of social actors to change society—has the following implication(s):
a. Society is not a static entity; it is created, sustained, and changed by people. b. The social forms that people create often take on a sacred quality that constrains behavior in socially prescribed ways. c. Since social structures are created and sustained by people, they are imperfect. d. All of the above
Happiness is the independent variable in the following statement: If income increases then happiness increases
Indicate whether the statement is true or false
In terms of mate selection patterns, the United States is an example of what cross-cultural researchers call a __________ culture
a. nationalized marriage b. cross-national c. collectivist d. free-choice
Answer the following statement(s) true (T) or false (F)
If you collect your data via computer, you will need to determine a way to enter that data using a comprehensive format.