WHO SAYS? controlling public education

In the mid 1920's America's public schools were chiefly a local responsibility. Some 162,800 local school districts were governed by locally elected lay people who raised the bulk of the revenue, enjoyed considerable autonomy and were very sensitive to local pressures. Today, as a consequence of state imposed consolidation, there are only 13,598 school districts whose local autonomy, control and sensitivity to local pressures have all shrunk dramatically. 

At the same time school funding shifted pretty strongly from the local to the state level — although, even now, the proportion varies from state to state. For instance, Vermont provides the most: 87% of the funding. While the smallest state share is provided by Utah: 58%. Most of the rest of the funding costs fall on local school districts. Although the federal government now provides 8%. 

Remember the old adage: "He who pays the piper calls the tune?" Well with state funding predominating, key decisions are now made at the state level. Local authorities are seldom even consulted. They simply are told what to do. They also are required to pick up some, sometimes all, of the tab. (It's a great temptation for state law-makers to enact one or another benefit then impose the costs of accomplishing it on local school boards.)

The dominance of state over local authority, plus increased federal involvement — especially since George W. Bush, the self-styled "Education President" — has rendered local parents and voters more and more powerless as they find themselves further and further removed from those who actually have power.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                Another source of parental disempowerment is the increased number of students per school. In 1920 there were about 190,000 public schools k-12, with an average 100 students per school. In 2020 there were only 131,000 public schools. But they were serving an average 528 students. About five times more students per school than in 1920.  

As the size of the school student populations grew, individual differences became less and less important. The chances of a principal even knowing the name of every student in his or her school shrank to nearly zero. School authorities knowledge of individual parental concerns also shrank to nearly nothing.