school models and choice
this type of school is funded through the public tax dollars but operates autonomously from local district regulation, following a specific mission set forth in its founding document
what is a charter school
Approximately 91% of public school funding comes from state and local sources; the local portion is primarily derived from this specific tax, which creates inequities between wealthy and poor districts.
What are Property Taxes?
This level of government is legally responsible for issuing teacher licenses, setting curriculum standards, and establishing compulsory attendance ages
What is the State Government?
This Constitutional Amendment protects the freedoms of speech, religion, and the press, which applies to both teachers and students in public schools.
What is the First Amendment?
While teachers have some freedom of expression, courts have ruled they generally cannot deviate from this school-mandated framework.
What is the Curriculum?
Historically, schools used this practice to channel students into specific educational paths (like college prep or vocational) based on perceived ability, which often limited access for marginalized groups
What is Tracking (or Ability Grouping)?
This section of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act provides federal financial assistance to schools with high percentages of children from low-income families.
What is Title I?
This local governing body is responsible for hiring the superintendent, approving the district budget, and setting local school policies
What is the School Board (or Local Education Agency)?
This Constitutional Amendment contains the "Equal Protection Clause," which ensures states cannot deny any person equal protection of the laws, and the "Due Process Clause".
What is the Fourteenth Amendment?
To search a student's belongings without a warrant, school officials do not need "probable cause," but must meet this lower legal standard.
hat is Reasonable Suspicion?
This discriminatory housing practice involved denying services to residents of certain areas based on race or ethnicity, leading to ongoing "de facto" segregation in school districts.
What is Redlining
This funding model calculates a set amount estimated to educate one child and multiplies it by the enrollment count, often adjusting for special needs or low-income status.
What is a Student-Based Formula?
This federal agency, established as a cabinet-level department in 1979, enforces civil rights laws in schools but is prohibited from dictating specific curriculum.
What is the U.S. Department of Education?
Under the First Amendment's Establishment Clause, public schools must remain neutral regarding religion and cannot do this activity, even if it is non-denominational.
What is (State-Mandated) Prayer?
This federal law (FERPA) ensures that parents have the right to access their children’s educational records and requires schools to keep those records private.
What is the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act?
This government-supplied coupon allows parents to use public funds to pay for tuition at a private school, a practice often criticized for diverting funds from public systems
What is a School Voucher
In the film Education, Inc., the privatization movement is described as treating education not as a public good, but as this type of product to be bought and sold.
What is a Market Commodity?
This individual acts as the chief administrative officer of the state's education system and is often appointed by the governor or state board of education.
What is the Chief State School Officer (or State Superintendent)?
In 1973, the Supreme Court ruled that because it is not mentioned in the Constitution, education is not considered one of these federally protected entitlements.
What is a Fundamental Right?
Regarding liability, this legal term describes a teacher’s failure to protect a student from injury or harm, which can lead to lawsuits
What is Negligence?
This specific type of public school offers a specialized curriculum (such as STEM or the arts) and typically uses an application or lottery system to attract a diverse student body from across a district.
What is a Magnet School?
While the federal government provides only about 9% of school funding, it uses this mechanism (attaching rules to money) to influence state educational policies
What is Federal Funding (or Grants/Aid)?
While this level of government enforces civil rights and provides grants, it does not have constitutional authority to determine what is taught in schools
What is the Federal Government?
This legal concept requires that before a student is suspended or a tenured teacher is fired, they must be given notice of the charges and an opportunity to be heard.
What is Due Process
This legal doctrine, meaning "in place of parents," grants educators the responsibility to make judgments regarding student safety while children are at school.
What is In Loco Parentis?