A report from the Center for American Progress (CAP) sheds light on the poor quality of school governance in the United States. The author, Marc Tucker of the National Center on Education, argues that governance establishes two things: one, who is in charge of education policy (who makes and implements it), and two, how policy decisions are made (through a deliberative body or through a single executive). Ultimately, successful governance systems are able to determine what government agencies and what level of government has the ability to administer and implement education policy, as well as who is accountable for the quality of education. Tucker explains that the American system is hindered by having the local, state, and federal levels of government pushing forward policy independent of each other. This creates an incoherent governance system and diffuses accountability. So what is the Tucker’s suggestion to improve the current system? Governance, according to Tucker, should be centralized at the state level, limiting the roles that both local and federal agencies have on in creating and implementing education policies. Local governance of schools is resistant to policy reform because there are not many incentives to deviate from the status quo (e.g., the strength of unions at the local level and low voter turnout for school board elections). Meanwhile, central control from the federal government of local schools would not be supported by the public. In strengthening the capacity for states to create education policy and changing the roles at the local and national level, Tucker argues the U.S. can change the core structure of its governance, allowing it to better improve education across the nation.
SOURCE: Marc Tucker, Governing American Education: Why This Dry Subject May Hold the Key to Advances in American Education, (Washington D.C.: Center for American Progress, May 2013).
