Tuesday, August 10, 2010

State & Local Government 101

Another semester starts in two weeks and once again I will find myself dumbfounded by the ignorance of a new batch of college students who have no clue about federalism in America. They graduate from high school and in Texas that means they have completed at least one high school course in American national government and one in Texas state/local government. What is the relationship between the government in Washington and those in the state/county/city/district levels? They don't have a clue.

Who pays for what? Dunno! Does it make a difference if Washington dispenses or a local government does? No clue! Where does government get money? Where is the money tree orchard?

I'll urinate against the gale as I try to explain over the next fifteen weeks. Some might get it and fewer might even remember it six months later. They are simply submerged in a swamp of insurmountable ignorance that denies the basics.

Take this for example:

Pelosi Recalls Critters to Dole Out Dollars

Get this, as as John Wayne used to say, "Get it good..." The federal government is not the source of teacher payrolls! Public education in America is a local government function. In most states the schools are organized in districts, usually with an elected district Board of Education. A few places have municipal schools which are part of city government. In all of them, the payroll is budgeted by the local Board and funded principally by ad valorem property taxes imposed on real estate.

A trend over the last fifty years has been to supplement school funding by state tax dollars. In many areas the state funds are almost equal to the local school district contribution. The justification for this policy is to insure that even the poorest districts have adequate funding to provide a reasonable standard of education.

The federal government contributes roughly ten percent of K-12 funding. It is the camel's nose which gives Washington leverage to impose policies on schools which quite arguably are more political than intellectual. It isn't, however, payroll funding.

That is why it is patently ridiculous to watch this kabuki which will be enacted for $28 billion dollars of pork. The bleat that Washington is rescuing teacher's jobs is absurd. It is a payoff to NEA and AFT designed to convince a typically Democratic voting clientèle that the administration is doing something for them right before an election which promises to be a liberal bloodbath.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Go get um Ed. You have an opportunity to set a few of them straight. They will be the lucky ones.

bongobear said...

I hope you're right about the 'liberal bloodbath' coming in November, Ed.
Where lies the blame for these students being so ignorant of our government? I hear or read these statements frequently but I don't really see any such ignorance displayed in the kids in my family. For instance, my son is very well versed on the role of government and he is very interested in our political system. Is he really unusual?

Ed Rasimus said...

Yes, bongobear, your son is unusual. Political socialization is a function of home environment more than any other factor. A family which reads, watches news, participates, discusses issues, etc. is much more likely to have children who are involved in the process.

In Texas, when I ask my students "who taught government" in their school, it is invariably, "the coach"!

GeorgeR said...

The American Governmment "class" I went through in High School was laughable. Nothing was really taught Same for the college one.

The only reason I am educated in the workings of the government (and pretty much everything else) is because I read a great many books during my childhood and took the effort to educate myself.