Education reform: compatible with federalism?

With the economy crisis many eyes are being set to restructuring the education system. It is well-known that a country’s development rest on a high quality education system. In fact, it has been one of the principal topics in the recent movie on education ‘Waiting for Superman’.

When school reform is debated in the U.S, one of the most polemical issues it arises lies within the Federal system of the country. In fact, it is argued whether education policies should come from the Federal government and be the same for all the States (centralized/local policies), or, if the policies should be decided individually by each State and be specific to each one of them (decentralized policies). Decentralized policies like the U.S States education policies tend to enhance inequalities between States. In fact, not only do richer States invest more in education but there is no national curriculum. Furthermore, according to the Center on Education Policy (CEP) the number of years children must attend school varies within States from 9 to 13 years. Does a student ‘A’ who went to school 4 extra years than student ‘B’, and whose school received 50% more funding than student ‘B’, have the same opportunities? Of course not! Student A is advantaged. The American Dream that claims that everyone has equal opportunities and that, if (s)/he works hard, will achieve is an illusion.

Matt Miller, author of the article 'First, Kill All the School Boards', resumes the negative consequences of the local control of education in several points. First of all, he claims there is no way to know how the students are progressing because there is no uniform evaluation for the pupils across the States. Then, local control reinforces teachers unions power which only care for their members advantages; also it limits investments in Research and Development; and finally it enhances the financial inequity (the Federal State contributes very poorly, only 9%).

The main problem of turning to centralized/nationalized education policies is that they question the federal system of the country which has long roots in the American history. In fact, even during the battle between Federalists and Anti-federalists the issue was never close to taking the power away from the States to favor a centralized State. What was in debate was the degree of power which would be attributed to the States. Additionally, any policy coming from the Federal government is not very much liked by the Americans because it is not in their culture. Anything close to nationalization sounds like a communist threat. Think about it: in the U.S, institutions where conceived in order to limit the government. In the Federalist Papers No. 51, Madison characterized federalism as a double security to the rights of the people. The urgency of creating a Union as a ‘safeguard against domestic faction and insurrection’ has resulted in the creation of an ineffective and impotent State.

In order to have a real education reform in the U.S it must come from the top and it must be the same for all the States. Of course it is essential to take into consideration the local aspects but to put the light only in the local is leaving the education system in the shade, that is to say, unchanged. If a school is improved it’s great but what good does it do to the country if only one school is improved? What good is it if one rich State puts into place an incredible education policy if the others don’t have it? Education policies must be thought as a whole that involves the country and not just one district. Education is a structural matter. Education policies come hand in hand with the countries socioeconomic policies. They are part of a vision of a country. For Matt Miller there are two ways in which the Federal government can make a difference in education: number one would be for the federal State to contribute more in funding the public schools. And, number two, setting standards in a course set of subjects like reading, science and math.

Is a successful school reform compatible in a country with such a strong culture of federalism? It is possible for the U.S to centralize/nationalize education? Well, with the emergence of the Tea Party, its growing influence, and its vision of the government as Evil, it seems unlikely that this will happen any time soon.