Schooltastic

Please read the disclaimer in my last policy post before proceeding. 

A concept that appears in several platforms is decentralization.  This philosophy manifests as policy in varying forms, including decreasing regulations on charter schools, delegating policy decisions to state and local governments, and offering federal funding for homeschooling families.  The basic concept seems to be that the federal government doesn’t need to be in charge of everyone’s education, and that students would be better served by policy decisions made on a state, community, or even household level.  Having taught before and now during No Child Left Behind (NCLB) legislation, I can sympathize with the notion that sweeping regulatory measures are not best for all children in all communities.  Sometimes, federal or even state mandates are met with a sense of “lets make lemonade from these lemons,” or even, “grin and bear it.”  I don’t doubt that, in many cases, local administrators and teachers have a better idea of what would be best for students than federal legislators. 

Frequently following many candidates’ statements about decentralization is a call for increased accountability.  These two concepts, as policies, seem incompatible, even in the nebulous language of political candidates.  Accountability requires standards to which schools, students, and teachers can be held accountable.  And, in order to be held accountable, schools need to be measured against the standard.  To do this, we would need centralized regulation of education to define and administer the standards and to perform evaluations.  Accountability implies consequences as well.  What does it mean if a school performs well?  What are the ramifications of failure to meet standards?  What regulating body (bodies?) defines and administers these consequences?

NCLB currently provides answers to these questions (to varying degrees to satisfaction).  If candidates feel that the accountability measures in NCLB are insufficient, will they seek to expand this already massive federal regulation?