[NLA] Balancing Local, State, Federal control

[Deborah W. Yoho]

Nancy, when I said education (I meant all levels) was once under solely
local control I was speaking historically.  A good reference book to check
on this is called 
"The Troubled Crusade: American Education, 1945-1980" by Diane Ravitch.  As
I have mentioned before, the only constitutional role for the national
government in education is to insure individual rights.  Since WW II, and
especially since Brown vs. the Board of Ed, the national role has expanded,
contracted, and expanded again (as measured by national funding levels) as
we all know. In the South, where "State's Rights" are still argued as
heatedly as at the time of the Civil War, national involvement is received
with, at best, grudging acceptance only because of the money attached. On
the NLA list, discussion about national strategies for increasing funding
and/or efficacy in adult ed should take into account that the vehicle for
truly fundamental change is still controlled by local decision-makers
(teachers, school boards, higher ed), and always has been.  But legislators
who would ask the national government to support adult ed funding often
distrust what happens to national dollars when the priorities are left to
local decisions, and for good reason. So federal dollars come with
strings--like the NRS--attached.  The role of the national government is
intertwined with the civil rights movement. And each time funding or
legislation is considered, the struggle to balance local vs. national
continues.

Once while I was a high school principal, I tried to explain to an irate
parent the purpose of Title IX.  The parent was incensed that his innocent
little girl was taking her PE class in the same gym at the same time as the
boys. He understood we didn't have the money for two gyms, and not enough
time in the day to schedule boys and girls into the gym separately. 
Finally he screamed at me (no exaggeration) "Title IX?  What?  Those people
in Washington don't give a damn what we do in this little hick town in
South Carolina!  We don't have to pay the slightest attention to them!  HOw
are they gonna know what's going on down here?  Just put my girl in study
hall and give her credit for PE.  You're telling me Washington cares about
that?"  

He had a point, sad to say.   

Is the local perspective a force for good or bad?  Of course, the answer
is, "it depends."  Like everything else in a representative democracy, what
results is usually a compromise, which means everyone loses (and wins), to
one extent or another. To foster quality in adult ed programs, issues of
standards, accountability, and control (who minds the store?) impact the
teaching-learning process as much as funding. Finding the balance is the
Holy Grail. 

To those of us, like Nancy, who operate wholly in the local arena (except
on this list!) it is easy to feel squashed by the power of Big Brother. 
But don't forget, often it has been the Mouse who made the Elephant climb a
tree. Cheers, Debbie 
  
Deborah W. Yoho
Moderator, NIFL-Health Discussion Group
Executive Director, Greater Columbia Literacy Council
2728 Devine St. Columbia, SC  29205
803-765-2555    dwyoho at earthlink.net

> [Original Message]
> From: <Nashansen at aol.com>
> To: <nla at lists.literacytent.org>
> Date: 11/20/2002 10:42:15 AM
> Subject: Re: [NLA] Research in adult literacy education
>
> Dear Debbie,
>
> I sincerely appreciate the comments below that you wrote in your
11/19/02=20
> post.  I hope you are correct that "We have come full circle."  I also
feel=20
> it's important that we really need a balance of decision, policy and
funding=
> =20
> for literacy programs that has not existed.  I feel there is such a gap
in=20
> understanding between the on-high and grass-roots -- sometimes it feels
like=
> =20
> weeds instead.  You know?  The scratchy, pesky variety you can't get rid
of?=
>  =20
> I guess that's me all right - not being grassroots as much as a Pesky
Weed=20
> Patch that won't go away.
>
> Debbie, you wrote: =20
> << "=E2=80=A6Every classroom teacher from kindergarten to higher ed
struggle=
> s with=20
> this problem.  It wasn't always so--education was once solely in the
hands o=
> f=20
> the grass-roots practitioner, but justice was served unevenly, as
inequities=
> =20
> abounded." >>
>
> If you have the time, I would love for you to expand on how, in *your*
view,=
> =20
> the change occurred and when. Plus were you writing about literacy=20
> practitioners or the K-12 + adult education?  Equality is really
important,=20=
> I=20
> feel, and if we knew what caused the uneven justice you wrote about,
perhaps=
> =20
> we might avoid making that same mistake now.  *I* feel we are already
seeing=
> =20
> inequity in the 'Leave No Children Behind' of the Bush administration as
far=
> =20
> as a focus on the adult in that family.  But I could be way off base. 
What=20
> do you think?
>
> At any rate, thanks for your comments.  I appreciated your NLA post.
>
> Nancy Hansen
> Sioux Falls Area Literacy Council
> Nashansen at aol.com and (when my Council computer is fixed)
> sfallsliteracy at yahoo.com
>
>
>
> Subj:    Re: [NLA] Research in adult literacy education
> Date:   11/18/2002 4:22:00 PM Central Standard Time
> From:   dwyoho at earthlink.net (Debbie Yoho)
> Sender: nla-admin at lists.literacytent.org
> Reply-to:   nla at lists.literacytent.org
> To: nla at lists.literacytent.org
>
>
> Thank you, Nancy, for your real-world, painstaking summary of this
thread.=20
> In regard to policy, I wish someone could sort out the quagmire of
> balancing local control of our programs with fiats from on-high.  To me,
> this is the Great Theme of what has been called the Troubled
> Crusade--America's educational system-- at all levels.  Every classroom
> teacher from kindergarten to higher ed struggles with this problem.  It
> wasn't alway so--education was once solely in the hands of the grass-roots
> practitioner, but justice was served unevenly, as inequities abounded.=20
> Despite the relatively recent involvement (interference?) by state and
> national government to rectify the situation, it seems the more things
> change, the more they stay the same.=20
>
> We have come full circle. =20
>   =20
> Deborah W. Yoho
> Co-moderator, NIFL-Health Listserv
> President, SC Adult Literacy Educators
> Executive Director, Greater Columbia Literacy Council
> 2728 Devine Street,  Columbia, SC  29205
> 803-765-2555   Fax  803-779-8417   dwyoho at earthlink.net
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