Deck 12: Public Policy

Question 1

Public policy refers to

A) rules, regulations, and orders from authorized public agencies.
B) legislation, passing it and getting it signed.
C) the implementation of laws.
D) the expressed goals of a governmental body backed by incentives or sanctions.

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Plessy v.Ferguson (1896)

A) invalidated state-imposed racial segregation in Texas.
B) validated the election of State Board of Education members.
C) overturned the Brown v. Board of Education U.S. Supreme Court case of 1954.
D) validated state-imposed racial segregation in Texas public schools.

Answer 2

D

Question 3

Which school district in Texas became one of the first in the nation to comply with the Supreme Court's order in Brown v.Board of Education?

A) Houston
B) El Paso
C) San Antonio
D) Dallas

Answer 3

C

Question 4

Which U.S.Supreme Court case overturned Plessy v.Ferguson,ruling that state-imposed segregation in schools isolated the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment?

A) San Antonio v. Rodriguez
B) Edge ISD v. Kirby
C) Brown v. Board of Education
D) Mendez v. Westminster

Question 5

________ refers to the idea that policy will be developed that will maximize the output of government with a minimum commitment of resources.

A) Systemic agenda
B) Optimality
C) Individual rationality
D) Legitimation

Question 6

Under the separate but equal doctrine in the 1920s and 1930s,the amount of money Texas spent on black students was ________ the amount spent on white students in public schools.

A) the same as
B) much higher than
C) lower than
D) rapidly catching up to

Question 7

Rather than seeking to rationally understand everything that is involved in a particular policy or optimize every action taken to address a problem,policy makers may actually seek to ________,which can lead to less-than-rational and less-than-efficient public policy.

A) use bounded rationality
B) rationalize
C) satisfice
D) table

Question 8

Which of the following steps in the policy-making cycle occurs first?

A) formulation
B) problem identification
C) evaluation
D) agenda setting

Question 9

________ refers to the idea that policy makers have formulated and implemented policy that addresses problems in an optimal or efficient manner.

A) Rationality
B) Bounded rationality
C) Policy accountability
D) Systemic agenda

Question 10

The three main issues that have shaped education policy in Texas over the last 50 years have been

A) income taxes, federal regulation, and teachers' salaries.
B) labor unions, civil rights, and school district lines.
C) funding, desegregation, and educational excellence.
D) desegregation, access to the Internet, and urbanization.

Question 11

In 1949,which law increased state funding and established the Texas Education Agency (TEA),which carries out the state's educational program?

A) No Child Left Behind
B) Gilmer-Aikin Laws
C) Top 10 Percent Plan
D) Texas Education Agency

Question 12

Which of the following in the policy-making cycle occurs last?

A) policy adoption
B) policy implementation
C) problem identification
D) policy evaluation

Question 13

The Constitution of the Republic of Texas required a public system of education,but a bill actually establishing a public school system did not pass the legislature until

A) 1854.
B) 1876.
C) 1845.
D) 1941.

Question 14

Under the Gilmer-Aikin Laws,

A) the State Board of Education was established to supervise public education in Texas.
B) the State Board of Education was abolished for being redundant and in competition with the federal Department of Education.
C) the Religious Antidiscrimination Act was repealed.
D) the State Board of Education members were elected statewide on partisan ballots.

Question 15

Which of the following is a challenge facing education policy in Texas?

A) high level of public spending per pupil
B) low dropout rates
C) high teenage pregnancy rates among Hispanic students
D) demographics increasingly becoming minority and disadvantaged

Question 16

For the 2016-2017 biennium,an estimated ________ billion in state General Revenue Funds went to public education.

A) $41.3
B) $51
C) $10.2
D) $19

Question 17

The debate over public education in Texas goes back to the

A) Constitution of 1876.
B) first decade of the twenty-first century.
C) post-World War II era and the returning military service members.
D) break with Mexico.

Question 18

The first toll was opened between Dallas and Fort Worth in

A) 1957.
B) 1977.
C) 1965.
D) 1980.

Question 19

Which of the following is a step in the policy-making cycle?

A) agenda setting
B) policy evaluation
C) agenda formulation
D) agenda identification

Question 20

In Brown v.Board of Education,segregated school districts were ordered to

A) double the funding for African American integrated schools.
B) desegregate their schools within the next 10 years.
C) desegregate their schools "with all deliberate speed."
D) appoint a commission to study the Texas school system and make recommendations to the governor.

Question 21

The generally accepted standard by which poverty is measured in the United States is the

A) unemployment index.
B) caloric intake index.
C) index of income inequality.
D) U.S. Department of Health and Human Services poverty index.

Question 22

________ calls for wealthy districts to transfer funds to poorer districts in order to equalize funds available to all public schools across the state.

A) The equalization plan
B) The Edgewood IV plan
C) The Robin Hood plan
D) Senate Bill 7

Question 23

In the 1973 San Antonio v.Rodriguez case,the Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that states such as Texas

A) are required to subsidize poorer school districts under the equal protection clause.
B) are not required to subsidize poorer school districts under the equal protection clause.
C) are required to equalize funding to public and private schools.
D) are not required to subsidize wealthy school districts under the equal protection clause.

Question 24

One effective way to improve public education in Texas that Democrats,Republicans,and Tea Partyers support is

A) literacy tests for teachers.
B) issuing vouchers.
C) reducing the number of required end-of-course tests from 15 to 5.
D) increasing pay for teachers.

Question 25

In 2016,the Texas Supreme Court held that the existing system for funding public schools met the minimum constitutional provisions for

A) fairness.
B) efficiency.
C) general diffusion of knowledge.
D) acceptability.

Question 26

By the late 1960s,de facto segregation

A) had been completely eliminated.
B) was still a problem in urban public schools with large minority populations.
C) had been ruled illegal and, therefore, was no longer an issue in public education.
D) had resulted in all federal funds being withheld from the public schools in Texas.

Question 27

Poverty among children under age 18 is much higher in Texas,at ________,than in the United States as a whole,which is at ________.

A) 23 percent; 22 percent
B) 22 percent; 10 percent
C) 30 percent; 15 percent
D) 24 percent; 21 percent

Question 28

The origins of modern welfare policy lie in

A) the post-Civil War Reconstruction era.
B) President Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal.
C) President Truman's post-World War II reforms.
D) President Lyndon Johnson's Great Society programs.

Question 29

The Robin Hood plan was found unconstitutional because it required

A) approval from school superintendents and teachers.
B) approval from the school board and voters.
C) approval from individual cities.
D) local voter approval of property tax levies and it prohibited a state property tax.

Question 30

The district court in San Antonio v.Rodriguez delayed action because the court

A) thought the plaintiffs would change their minds and withdraw the suit.
B) thought the legislature would address the funding issue in the next legislative session.
C) thought the school district would address the funding.
D) thought the federal government would intervene and resolve the issue.

Question 31

In Edgewood ISD v.Kirby,the key constitutional issue was

A) whether the Brown v. Board of Education decision applied to Texas students.
B) whether the phrase "an efficient system of free public schools" included school financing.
C) de facto segregation.
D) the continuing effects of Roe v. Wade on public education.

Question 32

What happened during the 2013 legislative session that changed the high-minded expectations about the education reform movement?

A) The idea of testing to promote academic excellence was not being abandoned completely, but it no longer held center stage for reformers.
B) Students, under certain circumstances, were able to transfer from low-performing schools to high-performing schools in their districts.
C) The implementation of the "No Pass, No Play" rule was relaxed.
D) The implementation of an additional literacy test for teachers failed to pass.

Question 33

Among the most important findings of the 1983 report were that

A) graduation rates were improving and dropout rates were increasing.
B) dropout rates were increasing and test scores were improving.
C) test scores were declining and functional illiteracy was increasing.
D) functional illiteracy was decreasing and test scores were improving.

Question 34

Which government entity administers and determines the benefit levels for Aid for Dependent Children,Old Age Assistance,and Aid for the Blind?

A) federal
B) local
C) state
D) county

Question 35

A 1983 report by the National Commission on Excellence in Education was called

A) Waiting for Superman.
B) Only in America.
C) No Child Left Behind.
D) A Nation at Risk.

Question 36

In 2014,________ percent of Texans lived below the poverty line.

A) 15.9
B) 17.2
C) 15.0
D) 35.4

Question 37

In the 1960s,welfare policy in Texas reflected

A) a policy of minimizing the cost to Texas while maximizing the use of federal dollars.
B) a policy of maximizing welfare benefits paid by the state of Texas.
C) very generous state-funded benefits.
D) noncompliance with all federal welfare programs.

Question 38

The most persistent social problem facing Texas is

A) severe droughts.
B) poverty.
C) crime.
D) environmental degradation.

Question 39

Ross Perot was appointed by Governor Mark White to chair a committee on education.As committee chair,he was particularly scornful of

A) high teacher salaries.
B) the cost of education per pupil.
C) the high incidence of violence in public school classrooms.
D) athletic programs.

Question 40

Dropout rates in Texas are

A) about the same for all demographic groups.
B) highest among minorities.
C) highest among the Asian student population.
D) lowest among minorities.

Question 41

Welfare reforms are measured along which two dimensions?

A) the number of people receiving welfare and the crime rate
B) waste and fraud within each welfare program
C) the number of people on welfare and the success of getting people into the workforce
D) the number of welfare recipients who continued receiving welfare benefits for more than five years versus those who received benefits for a shorter period of time

Question 42

Most of the water used in Texas comes from

A) ocean desalinization plants.
B) lakes and streams.
C) aquifers.
D) rainwater collected in holding ponds.

Question 43

During the 1980s,a growing number of critics alleged that welfare programs

A) had nearly eliminated poverty.
B) were helping to create a dysfunctional underclass of people who depended upon them for survival.
C) were being abused, mostly by the wealthy.
D) benefited only the middle class at the expense of the poorer class.

Question 44

Underlying water policy in Texas is

A) federal law mandating all aspects of water use in Texas.
B) a complicated system of private property rights.
C) the fact that Texas has no major rivers, lakes, or aquifers.
D) fear that Texas is in a permanent state of drought.

Question 45

The law of capture,as it pertains to water policy in Texas,essentially means that

A) the state owns the water rights because it is sovereign over Texas residents.
B) the federal government has the right to capture water in Texas because of the supremacy clause in the federal Constitution.
C) the first person to capture the water by pumping it out of the ground owns it.
D) the state can capture and tax any business that uses state water without reporting usage statistics to the state water board.

Question 46

Which program provides coverage for children in families with incomes too high to qualify for Medicaid?

A) Children's Health Insurance Program
B) Federal Medical Assistance Program
C) Affordable Care Act
D) Temporary Assistance for Needy Families

Question 47

Which statement regarding the Affordable Care Act is true?

A) Congress was sharply split along party lines.
B) It was passed with the vote of large majorities of both parties.
C) It was vetoed by the president because it included a tax increase.
D) It was later overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Question 48

Toll road policy enabled legislatures to get access to funding without raising the gasoline tax.

Question 49

Which statement regarding water policy in Texas is true?

A) Water rights are a complicated matter, balancing private property considerations and the public good.
B) There is continuing conflict between Texas and Mexico on the rights to the water flowing in the Rio Grande.
C) The business community is usually at odds with the private property rights of water developers and the water processing and transportation rights of stockholders.
D) The regulatory environment in Texas does not pose a huge problem because landowners and water conservation groups promote the public interest.

Question 50

In the case of Edwards Aquifer Authority v.Burrell Day and Joel McDaniel (2012),farmers argued that

A) the rights to the water in the aquifer were beyond the reach of the federal government because of a long-standing precedent dating back to Mexican common law.
B) they had the rights to the water based on their ownership of the land above it.
C) they had water rights because they had prior claim pursuant to Texas sovereignty under federalism.
D) they had water rights based on the eminent domain doctrine of the federal Constitution.

Question 51

In 1965,Congress created the Medicaid program,a state-federal program,to

A) direct cash payments to citizens living in poverty.
B) provide welfare benefits to the general public regardless of income.
C) assist Texans with their prescription medications.
D) provide health care for the poor.

Question 52

Federal money for Medicaid programs

A) comes to the states as a block grant without any significant restrictions.
B) is tied to the number of adults on the welfare rolls in order to reduce the cost of program redundancy.
C) is accompanied by federal rules and regulations, which states must comply with to maintain federal funding of the program.
D) is administered automatically by the federal government to avoid punishing program recipients.

Question 53

Two of the strategies that have been developed by the Texas Water Development Board to meet the long-term needs of Texas include

A) raising the tax on water to encourage conservation efforts and statewide water restrictions.
B) importing more water from surrounding states where water is more plentiful and encouraging more citizens to dig their own wells.
C) the focus on conservation and expanding and developing available surface water.
D) requesting federal funding to develop massive desalinization plants along the Gulf Coast and laws restricting the construction of in-ground pools.

Question 54

One of the controversies arising out of the Medicaid Women's Health Program in Texas involved

A) religious restrictions imposed upon welfare recipients.
B) state monies being used to subsidize groups supporting abortion.
C) the funding for having a child in state clinics paid for by Texas taxpayers who were opposed to the procedure.
D) health care for poor, unwed mothers.

Question 55

Responding to the Supreme Court decision on national health care legislation of 2010,Governor Perry announced that

A) Texas agreed with the Supreme Court's decision.
B) Texas would increase funding for Medicaid by borrowing substantial sums of money on Wall Street.
C) the Texas legislature would happily increase taxes to fund the expanded Medicaid program.
D) Texas would refuse to participate in the expanded Medicaid program.

Question 56

Public policy refers to the outputs of governmental institutions.

Question 57

In an attempt to stem the rising tide of illegitimacy rates and single-parent families among the poor,which act mandated two-parent coverage for all state AFDC programs?

A) the Family Support Act in 1988
B) the Supplemental Security Income
C) the Affordable Care Act
D) Temporary Assistance to Needy Families

Question 58

In March 2010,Congress passed ________,substantially altering the nation's health care system.

A) No Child Left Behind
B) the Affordable Care Act
C) the National Women's Health Act
D) the Dream Act

Question 59

Most of the water in Texas is for

A) national defense purposes.
B) home consumption by households.
C) irrigation.
D) additional water supplies for neighboring states.

Question 60

In which case did the majority of the U.S.Supreme Court justices conclude that a tax penalizing people who did not get medical insurance was constitutional?

A) United States v. President Obama
B) United States v. Sebelius
C) National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius
D) National Federation of Independent Business v. President Obama

Question 61

Under the concept of federalism,welfare policy is largely separate from federal programs and policy making.

Question 62

According to the "No Pass,No Play" policy,students who failed to earn a passing grade of 60 would be unable to participate in any extracurricular activities for the next grading period of six weeks.

Question 63

The 1983 report by the National Commission on Education had no effect on Texas because of its existing excellent system of public education.

Question 64

The constitutionality of using property tax revenues in school finance has been an issue in terms of providing equal opportunities for Texans.

Question 65

Desegregation of public schools was supported from the beginning by Texas law.

Question 66

One of the challenges facing education policy in Texas is high dropout rates.

Question 67

Plessy v.Ferguson overturned the doctrine of separate but equal.

Question 68

The San Antonio School District became one of the first school districts in Texas to comply with the Brown v.Board of Education decision in 1954.

Question 69

Since the program's creation,Medicaid's participation rates have remained fairly constant throughout the nation and in Texas.

Question 70

Texas ranked 24th in per capita student expenditure in 2013.

Question 71

The Supplemental Security Income program provides assistance to individuals in need who have disabilities or are aged.

Question 72

In policy making,"unsatisficing" means reaching a decision that is satisfactory rather than optimal to the individual.

Question 73

Poverty among children in Texas is about the same as the national average.

Question 74

One of the perverse effects of public welfare is that it encourages fathers to stay connected to their families and help raise their children.

Question 75

The Texas case Edgewood ISD v.Kirby involved the funding of schools using the property tax system.

Question 76

In the United States,welfare is currently considered a local issue and responsibility.

Question 77

One factor that works against rationality is the fact that the government tends to work incrementally.

Question 78

The 2011 legislative session achieved a balanced budget without raising taxes and without any cuts in primary and secondary education.

Question 79

The U.S.Department of Labor developed the poverty index in 1964 and revised it in 1969 and 1980.

Question 80

In 1957 the Texas legislature passed laws encouraging school districts to resist federally ordered desegregation,although then-governor Price Daniel Sr.,chose to ignore such laws.