Conservative governors and legislators across America are angry at the third branch of government. Some of these lawmakers are pushing legislation that could throw judges off the bench, while others are pushing to limit judicial authority. In one state, a governor unilaterally removed a justice of the state supreme court. Another Republican…

Nearly 25 years after New Jersey first took control of a troubled school district, a proposed state takeover of the Camden public schools sheds a critical spotlight on that state's long--and still mostly unsuccessful--record of trying to right struggling districts through such intervention. The state began running the public schools in Jersey City…

Most societies today are culturally diverse. Increasingly, minority groups are demanding recognition and self-governing rights to protect their ways of life against that of the majority. These demands represent a serious challenge for the state: how is it to balance between the equally legitimate claims of the many cultures inhabiting its…

Children born since the early 1990s have never known a world in which computer and information technologies are not essential to every aspect of their lives. However, far too many young people, especially low-income and minority youth, lack opportunities to learn about the impact of computer and information technologies on their lives and become…

The United States Congress' Southern Congressional Delegation promulgated the Declaration of Constitutional Principles, popularly known as the Southern Manifesto, on March 12, 1956. The Southern Manifesto was the South's primary means to effectively delay implementation of public school desegregation as ordered by the United States Supreme Court…

Concerns about academic standards, whether created by states from scratch or adopted by states under the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) banner, have drawn widespread media attention and are at the top of many state policymakers' priority lists. Recently, a number of legislatures have required additional steps, such as waiting periods for…

Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) are the fastest-growing developmental disability in the United States. In recognizing the increasing needs of children affected by ASD, as well as the associated financial implications for local governments, some states are re-assessing their current systems of support and looking for better and more efficient ways…

States began adopting the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) in 2010 after they were launched by the Council of Chief State School Officers and the National Governors Association. Five years later, policymakers in numerous states continue to debate the Common Core and related elements, such as how to assess the standards. This brief provides a…

This paper deals with some of the problems that the Politics of Education has to face both as a subject and as a government action. Based above all on the literature appeared in specialized journals during the last five years, our attention is firstly focused on the concern for using an active methodology in the teaching of this subject which…

State lawmakers will attempt to tackle a range of issues in legislative sessions getting under way this month, from making common academic standards a reality and funding schools based on performance, to allowing armed teachers and staff members on school grounds. Their task may be complicated by the still small and spotty economic recovery in…

Purpose: The global age is characterized by demographic changes that challenge the feasibility of democratic states' redistribution mechanisms. This paper aims to rethink the strategies commonly used by states (via their resource allocation to education) to promote social cohesiveness and competitiveness, and to suggest an alternative strategy.…

Each year, about 4 million children enter kindergarten in the United States. All parents hope their child will start school ready for success, and many parents turn that hope into action, seeking out supportive and high-quality early learning opportunities. Unfortunately, not every parent finds those opportunities, and access differs based on…

When the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) was reauthorized in 2004, it included provisions to reduce administrative and paperwork requirements to address concerns about burden. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) was asked to review federal efforts to reduce burden related to meeting IDEA requirements for educating…

Over the past few decades, many state departments of education have taken over low-performing schools or districts as a school turnaround strategy. Recently, that strategy has shifted to creating new districts--managed by the state--that include schools and parts of districts that face challenges in performance. The governance structure brings…

Over the past decade, SREB state policy-makers have focused on actions to reduce dropout rates and increase high school graduation rates. Some policy-makers have suggested that raising their state's compulsory attendance age (often called the dropout age) to require students to stay in school until age 17 or 18 is an important step. However,…