Assignment: The Decentralization of Education

One of the key areas of modern public policy that has been most delegated to states and local governments are education. Unlike many Western European nations where educational decisions are made almost exclusively by the central government, in the United States local school boards have enormous flexibility in devising education policy.

Respond to the following statements in a three to four paged double-spaced paper:

Analyze the current decentralization of education policy. Has education policy in the United States produced a system that has equipped workers for a modern knowledge-based economy? Discuss any challenges facing American education that originate with state and local governments.

Imagine that you have the power to reconstruct the relationship between local governments, state governments, and the federal government concerning elementary and secondary education. Discuss the possibilities, both pro and con, of maintaining the current system of devolving power to local governments.

Analyze the pros and cons of centralizing the education policy within the federal government and include why this would or would not be more successful than a decentralized system.

Regardless of your perspective on this issue, analyze the challenges and opportunities presented to local governments as they develop education policy to equip students with the skills required to compete in the global economy.

Analyze ways the federal government can assist local governments in producing better education policy.

Submit your three- to four-page paper (not including title and reference pages). Your paper must be formatted according to APA style as outlined in the approved APA style guide, and you must cite at least two scholarly sources in addition to the textbook.

The Paper must be three to four double-spaced pages in length (not including title and references pages) and formatted according to APA style and must include a separate title page with the following:

Title of paper

Student's name

Course name and number

Instructor's name

Date submitted

Must use at least two scholarly sources in addition to the course text. Must document all sources in APA style. Must include a separate references page that is formatted according to APA style.