Deck 6: Governance and Finance of US Schools

Question 1

The arena of educational politics refers to how people use all of the following except _______.

A) power
B) influence
C) authority
D) emotion

Answer 1

influence

Question 2

Since the 1939-1940, the number of school districts in the United States has _______.

A) increased steadily
B) stayed the same
C) decreased steadily
D) drastically increased

Answer 2

decreased steadily

Question 3

Which of the following statements is true about the organizational structure of schools?

A) School districts are usually similar in their organizational structures.
B) The larger the district, the less complex is the distribution of roles and responsibilities.
C) The smaller the district, the more centralized are the administrative decisions.
D) The larger the district, the more office administrators and support personnel are needed.

Answer 3

The smaller the district, the more centralized are the administrative decisions.

Question 4

Critics of school boards point out that school boards are best described as agencies that _______.

A) provide politically risky leadership for school reform
B) avoid micromanagement of school systems
C) spend too much time studying issues and informing themselves about educational policy-making
D) are reluctant to communicate a vision of educational excellence

Question 5

One characteristic of successful schools is _______.

A) a close working relationship with parents
B) a powerful school board
C) a superintendent who is active in each school
D) schools that operate under site-based management

Question 6

An approach to school improvement in which teachers, principals, students, parents, and community members manage individual schools and share in the decision-making process is known as _______.

A) the entitlement process
B) effective school management (ESM)
C) indirect governance
D) school-based management

Question 7

All of the following are powers of the states to maintain and support schools except _______.

A) levying taxes for school support
B) determining minimum standards for teacher certification
C) identifying approved textbooks
D) the right to fire teachers within local bargaining units

Question 8

In one of the nation's most dramatic education reform efforts, the Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA) required each of the state's schools to form a school-based management council to set policy in each of the following areas except _______.

A) curriculum
B) teachers' salaries
C) discipline
D) extracurricular activities

Question 9

The governor has the power to do all of the following except _______.

A) determine the cap on teacher salaries
B) appoint or remove educators at the state level
C) appoint the chief state school officer
D) use veto power to influence laws related to education

Question 10

Within a state, the body usually charged with the day-to-day implementation of educational policies is the _______.

A) state department of education
B) state legislature
C) state board of education
D) governor's educational cabinet

Question 11

All of the following are responsibilities of the chief state school officer except _______.

A) selecting state department of education personnel
B) supervising superintendents throughout the state
C) ensuring compliance with state school laws and policies
D) reporting on the status of education to the governor

Question 12

An influential and extensive federal education program signed into law by President Roosevelt in 1944 is the _______.

A) Education for all Handicapped Children Law
B) G.I. Bill of Rights
C) Satan Deluder Law
D) Civil Rights Act

Question 13

Total expenditures for public elementary and secondary schools in the United States during fiscal year 2011 was approximately _______.

A) $200 billion
B) $323 billion
C) $527 billion
D) $633 billion

Question 14

Supplemental programs to help meet the needs of special school populations are called _______.

A) block grants
B) entitlements
C) discretionary grants
D) outreach programs

Question 15

Allocating funds according to legitimate educational needs such as low-income students or students with limited English proficiency is called _______.

A) discretionary funding
B) vertical equity
C) horizontal equity
D) diversity focus

Question 16

According to the 2013 Phi Delta Kappa/Gallup Poll, public attitudes toward school choice programs that would allow parents to choose a private school to attend at public expense revealed _______.

A) a very slight majority in favor
B) a significant majority in opposition
C) a significant majority in favor
D) near unanimous opposition

Question 17

Which of the following is considered to be one of the most controversial educational issues of the twenty-first century in the United States?

A) boot-camp schools
B) alternative schools
C) magnet schools
D) for-profit schools

Question 18

What are the three components that most school-based management programs have in common?

Question 19

Define the role of the state department of education and list the responsibilities that are within its scope of power.

Question 20

Cite three actions taken by states that demonstrate expanding state control over public school classrooms.

Question 21

What is redistricting? Why would states choose this approach to achieving equal funding?