For over 18 years, Michelle Rhee has dedicated her time to compiling the skills that students will need when they enter the work force. She actively instituted many of these when she took her personal time as a third grade teacher to visit the homes of her third grade students for additional instruction after school hours. Besides many of the other innovative ideas Rhee brought to the table, she also started the DC Public School System Youth Cabinet, a concept that brings in the ideas of students for reform of the educational system.

Rhee started a grassroots initiative to improve the schools. Some of her key points are improving the quality of teachers, parental involvement in the schools and putting tax dollars where they’re most useful. StudentsFirst’s basis is that no child should suffer from an inadequate school simply because they live in the wrong area.

The basis for the StudentsFirst program is sound. The teachers in the classroom should be well trained and focus their time on the student. Today, many inadequate teachers remain in the classroom simply because of tenure. While tenure is good in some ways, such as preventing school boards from removing the higher paid teachers to save money, it also has its downside.

Too many teachers presently remain in the classrooms that spend their energies counting off the days to retirement. The lack of enthusiasm and caring can greatly affect the outcome of the educational experience for the student. 

However, the improvement of the teaching staff isn’t limited to eliminating teachers that don’t care or are ineffective. Part of the Student First program includes additional training for the novice teacher to help them begin on the right foot.

The initiative has a three-fold program for change. The first is changing the method of evaluating teachers. The initiative wants to eliminate arbitrary judgment and the union process in the evaluation of teachers. They feel basing the evaluation on the students results is far more beneficial. Included in this is the evaluation of the principal to attract and develop teachers.

There’s also a drive in the initiative to pay teachers more for student performance and their effectiveness in teaching. The biggest change is the elimination of tenure. Tenure is a process where it’s difficult to eliminate failing teachers once they’ve accumulated enough years of service.

The plan also wants to empower parents with the creation of high quality public schools throughout the districts. If a school proves ineffective, the parents must sign a consent form for their students to attend that school. The publication and distribution of relevant data on the schools is also in that empowerment plan as is the ability for parents to trigger a change if the school is failing.

Finally, the StudentsFirst program suggests a shift in the pattern of spending. As with the suggested changes mentioned previously, the suggestion to prioritize the pay based on accountability again comes into play.

The initiative also wants spending on more than traditional education. This would allow more money for use on other initiatives that bring the student’s interest to the foreground. The suggestion for better management and development of pension programs is also one of the key suggestions in the StudentsFirst program.

 Pros

Nobody can deny that our schools are in trouble and it’s time to find what works. Maintaining teachers that slipped through the cracks and found their way to tenure can be a costly error for both students and school budgets. Directing the pay for the teachers producing the best results makes sense and is normally the way pay schedules work in industry.

Giving parents a voice in the way the school runs and the opportunity to see the statistics has proven beneficial in many areas of the United States. When parents get involved, it’s only logical that their belief and interest in the schools transfers to their child, making it more conducive for learning.

Educational funds are often wasted and looking at the use of the funds is important. Too often, some schools receive far more money than they can use and have the best of everything, while others struggle to have enough resources so every child receives a textbook. Pensions often are part of the state’s general budget and have shortfalls funded by present tax dollars. Realigning the pensions to be more compatible with industry’s pensions would benefit both teachers and taxpayers.

Cons

It would be difficult to prove that a teacher is effective by simply looking at testing scores. The urge to teach to the test is too great. Teachers put into classrooms where students begin well below the mean could also find themselves with a pink slip if the administration uses the actual scores rather than the growth of the educational level. While it’s true that not all teachers are equally effective, it’s also true that not all classes of students are the same either. Some are far more difficult to teach.

Eliminating tenure could be a double-edged sword. Tenured teachers normally are the higher paid teachers due to years of service and advanced degrees. If a corporation is in trouble and needs to make budget, creating a reason to eliminate the higher paid personnel is often great.

Finally, there is no direction as to the actual programs that work and even though the pledge of StudentsFirst is to direct spending on programs that “advance student achievement” while “dispelling the myths about what works” makes no sense. Either a tactic works or it doesn’t. Who dictates the parameters of “policies that advance student achievement?”  While these are truly noble words, there is nothing concrete.   

   HOW DOES THE UNION UNREST AFFECT STUDENTS?

While its difficult to measure the effects of bitter battles on the education of students, you can measure the differences in the educational growth in areas where there are union contract negotiations compared to districts where there are no contract negotiations or union. Logically, unrest and dissention would promote a lack of focus on the true problem, the education of the students. It splits people up into camps and the corporation can’t achieve educational progress because neither camp will give into the other. Often, the student finds himself much like a child in a bitter divorce.

Wisconsin, a state that has active union members up in arms due to the cancellation of collective bargaining rights, has effectively taken the voice away from the union. While some say that the step was necessary, taking a closer look is also mandatory before making a judgment.  A study in 2009 conducted by the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) compared scores for students in various states. The study includes only non-chartered schools and examines the scores for math and reading for grades 4 and 8. In states with binding teacher contracts, the math and reading scores were higher for the states that had binding teacher contracts. While they were higher for by only a few points in each area, they were higher in all areas for both grade levels.

 If you simply looked at the state rankings for states that offer no union contract, you’d find that of the ten, only one ranks above the median and seven of the states, Georgia, Arkansas, South Carolina, Arizona, Alabama, Louisiana and Mississippi are in the bottom 15. Massachusetts, the state that ranked highest, has one of the strongest unions. While the study doesn’t include racial background of the classes, economic levels of the population or any other factors, it does reflect that overall, a school system that allows unions doesn’t affect the performance levels of students. 

It would be extremely difficult for anyone to measure the effect of the unrest and public dissention on the students. One would have to know where and when the next union outcry would come and begin the study before it occurred to have a basis for analysis. One thing is clear; teachers know what goes on in the classroom better than anyone else does. Giving them a voice in the operation is valuable and often the union dissent is all about maintaining that voice.  

It seems logical that employees who feel comfortable and appreciated will perform better. Better teacher performance means a better educational process for the student. If a parent or teacher is unhappy with the schools, students feel the effects of it. Teachers constantly in a flux over whether they’ll have a job the following year or whether a more administratively popular teacher will replace them. Unions prevent this type of selective hiring and firing based on cronyism.

Unions do procure higher wages for teachers and often the increased wage will bring the best of the best to the corporation. While most teachers are in the position because they simply love teaching, each still has to feed their family, pay back student loans and often provide classroom supplies. There should be adequate compensation. A teacher that has a choice of teaching in a higher paid position or lower one, with all other things being equal, will normally take the higher paid position. Unless there’s a matter of relocation or situation, the increase in income would draw almost any qualified person.

Teachers care what occurs in their schools. Some want union power simply for the power itself but in most cases, teachers want what’s right for the student. Recently the teacher’s ability to invoke discipline has fallen to the wayside with parental suit always lurking in the shadows. Removing the union from the picture or the ability to collectively bargain, would remove any power from the teacher. The fear is that with the lack of power comes the lack of desire to effect change. Powerless individuals travel with the pack for safety and fail to become innovators, something that our educational system needs right now.

The unrest and disputes do disrupt the educational process. The question is, are they necessary for a better teaching situation. Is it important for teachers to maintain some control over their destiny or simply leave all the decision making to the school board? The study shows that collective bargaining brought better teaching. In the long run, the effort for teachers to maintain some power through the union may be the right move.

                                                                                  WHY SHOULD ONE SIZE FIT ALL OR NOT?

 Each child is an individual and learns differently from the next child. Teaching to those individual differences is often easier said than done. However, there should be common goals and requirements for all students. These shouldn’t change because a child is slower, but our system should step up to the plate and change the method of presentation for these pupils. 

We have lost our path in the American school system attempting to justify individuality. In the beginning, adjusting the learning environment so all children could succeed was an excellent idea. However, someplace along the line, we lost our way and suddenly, we found ourselves adjusting the required outcome rather than the teaching technique.

Lowering expectations of students because of ethnicity and background is not only lowering the standards of the schools, its extremely unfair to the children it attempts to help. At one time, the suggestion of teaching Ebonics in the classroom and factoring in ethnicity on achievement tests to make them fair, was a prominently voice concept. Unfortunately, these types of innovative practices only lowered the overall learning results but also left children ill equipped to face the demands of life after school. Employers don’t care about your background or justify your performance at work based on ethnicity. They demand results.

Besides the academic standards changing in attempt to fit each child’s needs, the level of personal responsibility changed too. Johnny comes from a broken home and you should allow him to disrupt the class. After all, it isn’t his fault. Mary’s disrespectful mouth comes from living in an underprivileged neighborhood, so let her slander the class and the teacher. All these types of actions eroded the teacher’s ability to discipline.

At the same time, teachers no longer were individuals and therefore didn’t receive the same concessions as the students. In fact, if a teacher made the right attempt to control the classroom, parents often saw them in a negative light.

With all this said in favor of the “one size fits all approach,” there are places in education where individualizing is important. Not every child learns at the same rate or in the same way. Some children are quite visual and immediately decipher the pages written and material on the board. Others fare better when there’s a lecture and learn more from listening. There’s no one right way to learn and no exact method of arriving at learning experience. Teaching using various techniques is just as important as teaching to every level of learner.

Children don’t always grasp the material at the same time. If they did, our task of teaching future generations would be easy. Not every child is a math whiz and sometimes those well versed in math fail to understand the basics of reading. For these reasons, efforts to vary the teaching so that each child accomplishes learning the lessons are important.

This does not mean we lower expectations. It simply means we hunt until we find the right combination to make a breakthrough for the student. One educator once said that every child could learn any material given enough time, no matter how slow he was or how difficult the material. The difference is the amount of time necessary. This statement is true. However, our classrooms do not have with an unlimited amount of time. Because of this, we need to make stronger efforts to get outside help, extra tutorial teachers and parental involvement to bring the slower learner up to speed.

Not every child wants or needs college. Not every child is college material either. Children that have a talent in working with their hands in areas that do not require a college education should have the opportunity to advance that talent with classes that focus on the type of work that interests them. College degreed individuals do earn more over their lifetime, however, it doesn’t make their jobs more important than those that don’t require a degree.

We no longer respect the people that fix our cars, build our houses or do jobs that require brawn rather than brain. However, without an auto repair specialist or plumber, our nation would be in a sad state. They’d be many a college graduate with water up to their elbows or taking the bus because they have no concept of how a vehicle runs.

Diversifying our educational system to allow for individual talents and interests beyond just college prep is important. We need people to fill every job and each position is important in our country operating successfully. Dedicating special classes to professions in the trades would elevate the public’s view of the position and guarantee adequate service individuals.

The result is that we need to have standardized expectations in both level of competency and classroom behavior but modifications in how we reach that goal. Once students learn the basics, adjusting for individual differences is important. While doctors are necessary, if everyone was a doctor, they’d be no one left to create the tools used for the job, repair the ambulances, build the hospitals or create the drugs. Diversification of classes for individuals at the higher levels is also important.

EDUCATION THAT SUCEEDS

Finland scores on international achievement tests were the highest out of the 57 nations tested in the developed world. They scored the highest in reading and science and came in second in mathematics. One would first believe that the children spend 10 hours in school and begin education early in their life with an emphasis on reading at crib side. However, that simply isn’t true. In fact, just the opposite is true.

 The child in Finland doesn’t begin formal reading and writing until the age of seven. The preschool education may be one of the reasons for the higher achievement of the student in Finland. Rather than focusing on the three R’s in preschool and letter identification, in the 1970’s Finland made a dramatic change in their school system. The preschool education focuses of personal responsibility and social behavior rather than attempting to throw the students directly into the fray of subject knowledge.

 The basis for the preschool learning reflects the concept for the first Kindergarten offered by Frederick Froebel. He believed that this time should be a time of play, not just for entertainment, but as an important part of the child’s development. Froebel felt that play opportunities provided the child with learning experiences necessary for the next level of development.

 For two years, the high quality governmentally sponsored early-childhood program spends time on self-reflection and interaction. These components often aren’t part of the litigious nature of Americans, although they were qualities that made our country great. Today, our schools pay little attention to the personal development of the child and focus on the academics. If a child misbehaves in school, it’s simply not their fault but the fault of the teacher or school corporation. There’s none of that in Finland, the child understands his present behavior reflects the outcome of his future.

Even though the students in Finland have a two-year lag in the formal learning process, they seem to be ready for the challenge and eager when the time comes. Perhaps it’s much like washing dishes before the advent of dishwashers. Most children eyed their mothers with dipping in the soapsuds and scrubbing the plates. Often begging for an opportunity to help. However, if the parent insisted that they start washing dishes at an early age and it became a required responsibility, there would be no begging, only distain for the job. While there is no “teachable moment” for dishwashing, there is for learning the basics. Waiting until that moment occurs and not pushing the child too early can make the difference between an eager learner when the time arrives and one that only sees it as work, not as an exciting adventure. 

Finland is a far different type of nation than the United States. In Finland, only one language prevails in the country. This is not true of the United States, although many of our problems may stem from that dilemma. Our schools focus on teaching to children of several languages. One of every 12 American students is in the process of learning English as a second language. Our nation offers an incentive for those not willing to learn English, to dictate to our nation a requirement for public assistance, forms and even education in the language of their homeland.

 While providing interpreters and English as a second language classes to students, we deplete the resources for other programs. Instead of insisting on English only, as the government did in the early days of immigration, our Congress dictates that we offer multi-language brochures to anyone not willing to learn English. In one state, California, the elimination of second language classes, brochures, interpreters and higher paid workers speaking a second language could balance the state’s budget.

There are no awards for achievement, no accelerated classes and no rich or poor schools. Each school is standardized. All students maintain the same level of acceleration in the Finnish schools. However, a second teacher provides the much-needed help to those students that find themselves lost in the subject matter.

The homework for those in secondary school is normally a half hour a day or less and the students spend less time in school. However, due to the early childhood training, most students make themselves accountable for their success and focus on lessons they do not understand. It’s far different from the lagging students of America that hope to dodge the bullet of discovery or flaunt their ignorance and blame it on the teachers.

 In the last three years of school, the students separate into two different groups based on their academic achievements. Slightly over half will continue on the academic path and the balance will attend a vocational school. The drop out rate for the vocational school is approximately 10 percent with the overall drop out rate being about 4 percent. That differs dramatically with the American school system where dropouts are 25 percent of the total school population.

  A GPS FOR PARENTS OF SCHOOL-AGE CHILDREN

 Written for parents who are concerned about their children’s journey through today’s public education system, As For Me and My House: A GPS for Parents of School-Age Children is a powerful resource that can change lives.

 Inspired by the Book of Joshua, As For Me and My House asks parents to take charge and become empowered to improve their children’s education. No longer willing to accept second-rate outcomes, today’s parents are learning that by being proactive they can get better results from teachers, administrators, and their own kids.

Parental responsibility is a key issue in the delivery of education. The Biblical verse “As for me and my house we will” frames the need for parents to fulfill their roles as heads of the household. This timeless advice works for parents of any race, creed, or religious belief. A GPS concept is used to direct families into responsible behavior with suggestions of techniques for solution building in relationships with educators and administrators.

In the struggle to make American education more competitive, As For Me and My House: A GPS for Parents of School-Age Children is a must-read for families and offers powerful solutions that get results. More information can be found at the site dedicated to the book  -  http://www.as-for-me-and-my-house.com  and  at  http://amazon.com/As-Me-House-Education-Important/dp/0615455832, where it can be purchased both in paperback and kindle.

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Before delving into the pros and cons of teacher tenure, it is imperative that the definition of tenure be discussed. Tenure varies from state to state and Wisconsin has no tenure for teachers.  Teacher tenure occurs after a number of years of closely examined performance. Attaining tenure simply makes it more difficult, but not impossible for schools to dismiss teachers. 
While state laws vary as to the number of years, most of the laws created by the state legislators include specific rights for tenured teachers.

The tenured teacher can only be dismissed for specific reasons named in the state statutes. The tenure laws give the teachers with tenure the right to bump non-tenured teachers if their position is eliminated and they are qualified for the non-tenured teacher’s position. It also requires written notice given to the tenured teacher with reasons for terminating them. Tenured teachers can receive a hearing before the board of education in most states and can then take the matter to the Supreme Court for a hearing if they choose.
As early as the 1990s, states began to look more closely at the tenure laws. Schools were failing students and status quo no longer could be endured. However, the teachers hold a strong front and their union has adequate funds to maintain a fight for the teacher tenure.
There are good reasons to maintain that status quo. Tenure insures the teacher the right to speak out on political issues that directly affect the schools.  Since teachers are closest to the front lines, they often have informed opinions on legislation and changes that benefit the schools. Without tenure, the school board could easily dismiss the most vocal of teachers.
However, political issues do not constitute the most dangerous part of eliminating tenure. Financial issues are the key reason tenure continues. It simply makes sense for a financially strapped school corporation to release the more expensive teachers in favor of less seasoned but far more inexpensive new ones. Without a requirement for justification of dismissal, this is one potential.
On the other side of the issue is the negative effect that tenure has to maintain inadequate teachers and those whose behavior is uncomely in the school situation. It costs money to dismiss a teacher that chooses to fight back. Thousands of dollars are wasted each year when the school board dismisses tenured teachers that wish to fight their decision. Even if the evidence is overwhelming, the legal expense to support that decision is still a drain on the school corporation.
Because of this, often corporations choose to overlook failing teachers that have received tenure.  This often favors those that do inadequate jobs in the classroom and the real losers are the students. There are however, solutions to the problem.

Extending the tenure probationary period is one solution. Some states, such as California, have extremely short probationary periods. These shorter periods often do not give the schools an opportunity to review the performance of the teacher adequately before they grant tenure. By extending the period of probation, it would allow the schools to more easily weed out those teachers performing poorly.
Superintendent Frances Gall fired the entire staff of the Central Falls High School because the union failed to work with her on implementing changes to the contract. Central Falls High School was labeled the worst performing school in the state. Gallo intended to change this and identified areas that needed work. She wanted to include extra duties for the teachers without additional pay. While the changes were minimal, the union representative declined them and Gallo fired everyone.
While the actions of the Rhode Island superintendent were dramatic, to say the least, they reflect the urgency the administration felt in improving the education of the students in that district. Perhaps status quo is no longer a choice in the educational world where America is falling behind other nations in providing a sound educational foundation for tomorrow citizens.

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The teacher must have a love for knowledge and the desire to impart it. They also must have a strong intuitive sense and caring nature. Most of all, teachers must expect that their students will learn and believe in not only the students, but also their own ability.

Classroom management skills are important as are subject matter mastery. Here is where education and mentoring help the novice teacher. Often they face situations that they never considered while attending university classes. The seasoned teacher not only can help them through these times but also provide a working model for the novice to mirror to avoid crisis in the classroom.

The core requirement to good teaching is belief and a firm grasp on classroom management. The teacher sets the pace for each child in the classroom. The more the teacher believes in the child’s capability to conquer subject matter, the more successful the student is. This is the Pygmalion effect, also known as Rosenthal’s self-fulfilling prophecy.  The higher the expectation of the teacher, the more the child tends to accomplish.

While this optimistic attitude may not be natural for many of the new teachers, the teacher can learn to do this with practice.  It involves first, identifying the need to see each student as capable. The teacher learns the importance of this concept in college or with a mentor. Once the novice teacher understands this, they then need to make a concerted effort to see each student as capable. They need to understand that the ability to learn is within each child, the key is finding the method to unlock that ability.

Teachers need to be able to sell the concept of the child’s capabilities to the child and their family. In order to do this, they must be able to spot even the most minimal of growth and take the time to call parents and tell them of the child’s achievement for the day. Often, parents seldom hear from the teacher unless their child is unruly. This positive technique builds not only the esteem of the child, but also a cooperative attitude in the parents.

Classroom management is a task that requires a well thought out plan ahead of time. Classroom rules with rewards and consequences need assessment so the teacher can put them into written form before the first bell rings on the opening day of school. Children need to be aware of the rules immediately. The use of a mentor helps to identify the necessary rules to maintain classroom order.

Establishing the classroom routine the first day of school is also another way to help the class run smoothly. Again, the help of a mentor to create a manageable program is beneficial. Children that know what is required of them and what to anticipate next often find learning easier than those who have to anticipate what happens next.

Effective teaching requires organization, identification of goals and rules but it also requires the strong belief of the teacher that it is all possible. The most effective teachers are those that don’t give up in the face of adversity but look for ways to use the new information they gleaned from it to make their classroom more effective for learning.

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Linda Brown lived in a school system that segregated its students based on race. This eight-year-old child had to travel miles across Topeka, Kansas to attend her grade school, simply because she was black. Her white friends from the same neighborhood simply walked a few blocks to their school. The law at the time allowed this because it followed the separate but equal doctrine.

However, Linda’s parents didn’t believe that she received equal treatment and took the issue to court. Lower courts ruled in favor of the school system based on the separate but equal doctrine. The parents then took the issue to federal court stating that the facilities for black students was far from equal to that of the white students. Thurgood Marshall argued the case in court and found that even though the facilities may have been equal, the simple act of segregation caused an inferior label placed on the black student.

This was the end of not just school segregation but also segregation of public facilities in general. It also was the beginning of efforts to create racially balanced classrooms, often at the expense of children’s well being and educational processes.

Many corporations today put their students into the same situation that Linda Brown had to endure. The reason, however, is the exact opposite of Linda’s. It is in an effort to provide racially balanced classrooms. While the segregation of races created long travel time for Linda to attend her school, the desegregation attempts now create similar situations for many urban children.

America has always had neighborhoods populated with those of similar ethnic backgrounds. The populace of the neighborhood could be recent immigrants of a particular country or those of a particular race.  Many times, you’ll find a large black community in one area and a white community equally as large across town.

If children attended the school closest to them, the ethnicity of the neighborhood dictated a racial unbalance. Schools across the country attempted to create artificial balance by bussing students to other schools a distance from their home. The problem creates not only expense of bussing but also cuts many students out of before and after school activities because of the distance and lack of transportation.

The ruling of Brown vs. The Board of Education attempted to stop the useless bussing of students simply based on race. Today, school corporations use that ruling to promote the bussing of students based on race, even though it’s an attempt to balance the race. The results are fewer dollars for the classroom and disruption in the lives of children bussed. What initially was a case to stop unnecessary travel based on race now promotes it. While these corporations follow the letter of the law, they would be better to follow the spirit of the law and use the funds they save on bussing to improve the quality of education.

Some of the reasons for the drop out rate exist within the system. Students often see themselves as stupid or incapable because others labeled them so at an early age. Whether it is a parent or a teacher makes no difference, the child is a product of the self-fulfilling prophecy. Robert Rosenthal and Lenore Jacobson tested this theory on grades 1 through 6 at a predominately lower middle class school.

They told the teachers that the test was one that identified children about to have a significant spurt in academic growth. After they administered the tests, they identified to the teachers those randomly selected as top ten performers.  While the only difference between these particular students and any others was the fact the teacher believed they were about to make huge gains in academic learning, testing at the end of the school year showed that they actually made these gains.

The observer-expectancy effect, now known as Rosenthal’s Self Fulfilling Prophecy effect took place. The biggest growth was at the first and second grade level for the students randomly identified as educationally blossoming. The study shows how the attitude of both teachers and parents has a huge effect on the capabilities of the students.  It is one way to detour drop outs at an early age and examines the potential for searching for and reporting even small gains in learning to parents. It also is a reminder to teachers to discontinue using labels, particularly on school records.

Not all students drop out because of negative labeling at an early age. Some students simply face social pressures in school that make it difficult to function at a peak level and ultimately lead to school avoidance behavior and finally dropping out of school. This type of pressure can be either negative influences or aggression upon the student in the form of bullying.

Negative influences have to do with the prevailing attitude of education.  If students with good grades are viewed with distain in the neighborhood or education is seen of little value, then the system begins disadvantaged and drop out rates continue to soar. The challenge here is to use the school incentive program to enhance the image and purpose of a good education. Social norms require change but it’s a tall order for most schools and requires a special connection to the students and community to offset the effect.

Bullying is also part of the reason for the dropout rates. Bullying takes place when some students feel the need to control their environment. They often feel they don’t have any say in their future so they select a random victim they can control with bullying. Indentifying the bullies and those bullied early can reduce not only school dropout rates but also in-school violence.

While the incentive program is a start, it is imperative that teachers begin early to help reduce the dropout rates in the schools. These less educated students lower the statistics for the American schools and as a result infuse many unprepared adults into the workforce. Without the basic education necessary for an adequately paying position, the productivity of the country is at stake.

Debates abound in different countries as to what extent the government should involve itself in the affairs of public schools. While some feel that the government should be deeply involved, others feel that the government should limit itself to formulating policies, guidelines and developing curriculum and leave the management and running of public schools to the local community through their local elected school board committees.

While investigating to what extent the government should involve itself in public schools, it is prudent to clearly state that governments’ involvement in public schools in developed countries is less compared to developing countries.

Whether in developing or developed countries, one thing remains clear, public schools are funded through a country’s exchequer and it is tax payers’ money that is used in their running and management through budgetary allocations.

Education, being key to any country’s development, is taken seriously by any government. Any government will try as much as it can to get involved in the management and running of public schools knowing very well that it’s survival depends partly on the success of the country’s education system.

Developing countries have well-structured education systems and advanced schools’ infrastructure. Governments in developed countries involve themselves in school’s infrastructure development, provision of learning aids and materials, teacher recruitment and training, school inspection services and appointing a representative to the school board committee. The local community is left with the responsibility of appointing a school management team and recruitment of other necessary support staff through the elected school committee board.

In developing countries, governments are deeply involved in public schools, right from the construction of new public schools and maintaining them, equipping the schools, recruiting and training teachers, conducting national examinations, running and managing the schools through teachers who in most cases do not have managerial skills.

A good example of deep government involvement in public schools can be found in Kenya. The government introduced a policy eight years ago that made primary education free and compulsory. This saw the number of children enrolling in primary schools rise from about 1 million to 3 million in just the first year. This was a very positive move by the government since it also subsidised secondary education and provides bursaries to needy students. However, with little budgetary allocations, the standards of learning have reduced, as the teacher-pupil ratio stands at about 1: 70. It is important to note that Kenya’s efforts in ensuring education for all it’s citizens freely or at subsidized rates is bound to translate in huge gains for the country. Kenya’s efforts have attracted the attention of world organizations such as UN and other Non-organizations have stepped in and are providing funding.

So, to what extent should the government get involved in public schools? From the afore stated, it cannot be generally stated that governments are deeply involved in public schools or not. This depends on a particular country you are reviewing. While a country in a developed part of the world has little government involvement in public schools, a government in a country in the developing part of the world finds itself forced to shoulder all responsibilities in relation to public schools.