Alabama Education Policy Primer

Ch. 5: Governance and Policymaking

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Overview
Elementary and secondary education in the United States is governed by elected and appointed officials at the local, state, and federal levels of government. These officials must collectively maintain a free public school system, an important responsibility specified by constitutional provision in every state except Iowa.

Many popular news stories over the past five years have focused on the controversial issues of state takeover, charter schools, and the No Child Left Behind legislation. A common sentiment voiced in the media has been that local constituents are losing control of the public schools.Whether or not that is accurate depends on the perspective of who you ask, but it is clear that public officials are exploring issues of governance, or “who makes what decisions in public education.” In addition to state officials such as the governor, several distinctive positions and representative bodies provide specialized governance in public education. By law in Alabama, these include the State Board of Education, the State Superintendent of Education, local school boards, and local superintendents. Although the governance role of each educational official or agency may change over time, there are constitutionally defined relationships between state and local officials.

  

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