1. The Governor and State Legislator Legislatures make the laws that govern and affect education within their states, and they appropriate the money to fund state government. Governors has also come to play prominent roles since the start of the educational reforms of the 1980's. The State Board of Education The state's educational policy making body for the elementary schools and the secondary schools. These includes setting goals and priorities for education in the state, establishing academic standards and their assessment, and reporting to the public on their accomplishments and needs. The Chief State School Officers The executive officer of the state board of education. Is responsible to the state board of education for the administration of public education. Their job includes recommending improvements in educational legislation. Local School Boards The policy making body of the school district. Represents the citizens of the district in setting up a school program, hiring school personnel to operate the schools, determining organizational and administrative policy and evaluating results of the program and the performance of personnal. The Superintendent of School Executive officer and the educational leader and administrator of the school district selected by the local school board. Gathering and providing information to the local school board is one of the most important jobs. The School Principal Considered to be part of the school administration directly accountable to the superintendent and the local school board of education. Interviews prospective faculty members. The role of the principal includes management, supervision, and inspection duties. State Officers & Administrators The Local School District Who legally governs public education?

2. Professional Education Organizations The National Education Association (NEA) and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) are some of the most influential forces toward education and have great power at a national and local level. NEA and AFT, among others, have won recognition as the official bargaining representatives of their members. Demanding that issues be subject to collective bargaining. Business The business community was at the forefront of efforts to restructure public education particularly during the 1980s and 1990s. Business leaders, such as chief executives of Xerox, Coca- Cola, IBM, and Apple Computer have been substantially involved in almost every educational reform report. More than 100,000 business-school partnerships have been formed since 1983. Business Roundtable- - An association of chief executive officers of leading U.S. corporations that asks its members to join those committed to raising academic standards for all students and to ensure that standards reflect the skill and knowledge needed for success in the workplace. High-Stakes Standardized Testing policy makers believe good work should be measured and rewarded by standardized testing. This can be a problem because much time in the classroom is focusing on these tests and the curriculum is changing. Standardized tests don't measure critical thinking or problem solving abilities. Parents Have the most influence in schools research shows that parental involvement in schools helps students succeed. Local PTO's serve as the link between the parents and the formal school system. Parent-teacher conferences, websites, emails and workshops for parents can help improve communication between teacher and parent. The Federal Government The Federal Government does not have formal authority but has shaped important decisions in the school system such as religion, student rights and finance. The court has issued rulings on suchs things as rights of people with disabilities, gender equity and sexual harassment. The department of Education is a significant part of the federal government and has a 67$ billion dollar budget. The involvement of the Department of Education usually depends on whether a Republican or Democrat is in office. Under president Bush the federal governments share of costs for elementary and secondary education has increased from 7 percent to almost 9 percent by 2005. Who influences American Public Education?

3. State and Local Funding State governments use a combination of personal income, corporate income, sales, and excise taxes to generate revenue. Local governments rely primarily on the property tax for income.In 1993, Michigan proposed to eliminate local property taxes as a source of revenue for public schools; voters ended up voting to increase state sales tax and raise cigarette prices to replace the reduced property tax. Other states may also put less reliance on local property taxes because the areas where the property values are higher generate much more money to finance their schools than areas with lower property values. This results in great educational disparities. - School Finance Reform and the Courts The view of many was that schools were and had been poorly underfunded. Pressure began to be put on the government for change, with the Rodriquez Case putting these problems onto the state courts and legislators. Funding in the Past Much of federal aid to education comes in two ways: 1)Categorical grants: money must be spent for designated purposes (or categories) that are stated generally in the legislation and more precisely by the federal agency administering the funds. 2)Block grants: sums of money that come with only minimal federal restrictions and are transferred from the federal government to the state governments as a block of money rather than by categories. No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 The main federal law on K-12 education and the revision greatly increases the federal role in education by putting into place requirements that reach into virtually every public school in the country. It calls for states to require reading and mathematics tests every year (grades 3-8) and demonstrable progress toward academic proficiency by all students in every school district. Compensatory Education and Title I Compensatory education is an approach to creating more equal educational opportunities for disadvantaged children. It was formalized into a section of the original 1965 Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA)-Title I. Title I is designed to do two things: 1) deliver federal funds to local school districts and schools for education of students from low-income families; and 2) supplement the educational services provided to low- achieving students in those districts How are schools financed? Federal Funding Grants such as Categorical Grants are given to schools for specified reasons. In addition, there are Block Grants which are transfered as blocks of money. Block Grants have few restrictions.