Transcript Social Policy

Social Policy
Paula Barrenechea, Kaitlyn Bregman, Samantha Rodriguez, and
Lee Ryan
What is Social Policy?
Social policies are distributive or redistributive policies
that seek to improve the quality of citizens’ lives
Deal with quality of life and standards of living
The poverty threshold is the income level below which
a family is legally considered “poor.”
Calculated by the Census Bureau
Social Policy Overview,
cont’d.
Means-tested programs: social programs
whose beneficiaries qualify by
demonstrating need
Social insurance programs: programs that
offer benefits in exchange for contributions
It all comes down to…
Social Security
History
Created in the 1930s as part of FDR’s New Deal
programs
Intended to implement “social insurance” for elderly
during the Great Depression
Initial selling point: would decrease unemployment
during the ‘30s by encouraging older workers to retire,
opening up job opportunities for younger people
Funding
Social Security is paid for by a payroll tax: money
deducted from annual income
In 1939 the Social Security Act was amended to
create a trust fund for any surplus funds
Benefits are funded by taxes imposed on wages of
employees and the self-employed
The employer and employee are responsible for
half of the Social Security tax; self-employed
people are responsible for all of it
Reform?
Democrats don’t want to see anything changed
Republicans consider Social Security the ultimate Big
Government program, but learned its popularity with
voters makes it untouchable
However, considering current demographic trends, the
Social Security trust fund will not be able to meet
obligations
Politicians are (reluctantly) begin considering reform
Current Options
Raise the retirement age
Reduce the amount of each Social Security check
Privatization
One idea calls for the system to invest some of its
money in the financial markets instead of in
relatively listless government bonds
Role in Policy
Implementation
Throughout a worker’s career, the Social Security
Administration keeps track of his/her earnings
Amount of monthly benefit the worker is entitled to
depends on the earning record and the age at which
the retiree chooses to begin receiving benefits
From its inception, Social Security benefits have been
paid almost entirely by using revenue from payroll
taxes
Court Cases
Steward Machine Company v. Davis (5-4)
Arguments opposed to the SSA held the act went beyond the powers that
were granted to the federal government in the Constitution
The federal government was forcing each state to establish an
unemployment-compensation fund that would meets its criteria, but it
did not have the power to enact such a program
Helvering vs. Davis
Decdied on same day as the Steward case
Essentially, the Social Security Tax was constitutional as a mere exercise
of Congress’s general taxation powers
Related Congressional Committees,
Bureaucratic Departments, and Interest
Groups
• AARP: CEO A. Barry Rand and President W. Lee Hammond
• The Urban League: President and CEO Marc. H Morial
• Department of Health and Human Services: Secretary
Kathleen Sebelius
• House Education and the Workforce Committee: Chairman
John Kline
• Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and
Pensions: Chairman Phil Roe
• Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and
Pensions: Chairman Tom Harkin
• Subcommittee on Retirement and Aging
Cost-Benefit Analysis
Who pays for it?
Everyone.
Who benefits?
The retired, elderly, widowed, and disabled
An example of majoritarian politics:
Because we all get old eventually.
Head-On Collision?
Welfare
Aid to Families with
Dependent Children
Passed as part of the(AFDC)
Social Security Act of 1935
Previously, states had put the duty of caring for needy
children and families on local governments using money from
local property taxes
Used until TANF passed in 1996
Originally called Aid to Dependent Children
Did not originally give aid to parent/family, but did say that
the child had to be living with a parent or family in order to
be eligible for aid
Caretakers of dependent children did not begin receiving
federal aid until 1950
AFDC
Federal provisions provided to states in order to help children
State participation completely voluntary
State would submit a plan to be approved by federal
administrators
Had to meet certain minimal conditions to receive
funds
Most states proposed a plan due to the Depression
No fixed amount: authorized reimbursement of a portion of
state spending without a limit on total amount
Total, Federal, and State
Expenditures
Trends in Federal
Expenditures
Welfare and Low-Income
Health Care Assistance
Jumps
AFDC
Federal government eventually made the following
mandatory:
benefits to second parents in families with
incapacitated/unemployed parents, effective 1984
benefits to families of incapacitated/unemployed
parents, effective 1990
AFDC Supreme Court
Cases
• King v. Smith (1968)
• The real issue before the court was if states could
decide how to enforce a federal program.
• The Court ruled that AFDC could not be withheld
from a family due to the presence of a “substitute
father.”
•
AFDC Supreme Court
Cases
cont.
Goldberg v. Kelly (1970)
• NYC residents currently receiving AFDC appealed to the
Supreme Court, alleging that officials administering aid
terminated it without notice or hearing
• The Court held that:
• Due process is applicable to termination of welfare benefits
• The benefits of providing welfare outweigh the benefits of
cutting it
• A pre-termination evidentiary hearing is necessary
• Counsel is not necessary but must be allowed
• The decision maker must be impartial.
AFDC
Beliefs that influence its creation:
Need to help less fortunate children and by
extension, their families
Civic duty
Individual responsibility
Entitlements
AFDC Cost-Benefit Analysis
Who pays for it?
Everyone.
Who benefits?
Families with dependent children.
An example of client politics.
Temporary Assistance for
Needy Families (TANF)
Created August 1996 to replace AFDC, Job
Opportunities and Basic Skills Training (JOBS), and
Emergency Assistance (EA)
Individualized block grant that help its recipients find
work and make the need for aid temporary
Instead of the federal government reimbursing states
for the aid they give, it gives states block grants for
this specific purpose
TANF
Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 reauthorized TANF
through 2010, focusing on work, integrity, and making
families stronger by promoting marriage and
responsible fathers
In February 2009, President Obama signed the
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which
established the Emergency Contingency Fund for
state TANF programs
Goals of TANF
Help needy families so that children can grow up in
their own homes
Reduce the neediness of parents of these families by
helping with job preparation, work, and marriage
Prevent pregnancies outside of marriage
Encourage families with two parents
TANF: Work Requirements
Those receiving TANF must work as soon as they are
ready for a job and no later than two years after they
begin receiving assistance
If parents don’t work, benefits can be reduced/cut off
entirely
States cannot penalize single parents with a child
under 6 for failing to meet work requirements if they
cannot find acceptable child care
States must have a certain proportion of all families
working or be slapped with a financial penalty; 50%
overall, 90% two parent families
TANF Work Activities
Unsubsidized/subsidized
employment
Work experience
On-the-job training
Job search/readiness
assistance
Vocational education
training (no more than a
year)
Job skills training that is
work-related
Education directly related to
work
Community service
Satisfactory secondary
school attendance
Vocational education
training (no more than a
year)
Providing child care to
individuals participating in
community service
TANF
Limit for assistance is five years (not necessarily
consecutive)
State can choose to extend the period for 1/5 of its
caseload, or by using their own funds or Social
Services block grant funds
TANF Penalties
Failure to meet work
requirements
Failure to comply with five-year
limit
Failure to meet maintenance
requirement
Not submitting data reports
Failure to participate in the
Income and Eligibility
Verification System
Failure to reduce recipient
grants if recipient rejects work
without good cause
Severing assistance to
single parents with
a child under 6 who cannot
afford child care
Using funds inappropriately
Not establishing/maintaining
work verification procedures
Federal Funding for TANF
In FY 2009, the following Federal funding is available for
TANF:
TANF Block Grant - $16.5 billion is available to States,
Territories, and Tribes through the TANF block grant.
Supplemental Grants - $319 million is available to 17
States that experienced increases in their populations
and/or had low levels of welfare spending per capita. A
state qualified for a grant in years after FY 1998 only if it
qualified in FY 1998.
TANF Funding, cont’d.
TANF Contingency Fund - $1.3 billion is available to
States that have increased unemployment or
Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
caseloads as defined in the Social Security Act.
TANF Emergency Fund - $5 billion is available
States, Territories, and Tribes in fiscal year (FY) 2009
and FY 2010 that have an increase in assistance
caseloads and basic assistance expenditures, or in
expenditures related to short-term benefits or
subsidized employment.
TANF Performance
TANF Supreme Court Case
• Legal Services Corp. v. Velazquez (2001)
• Carmen Velazquez lost welfare benefits under TANF; she
wanted an LSC attorney to represent her in challenging the
provision of TANF that disqualified her for welfare
• Congress passed the Omnibus Consolidated Rescissions
and Appropriations Act of 1996 which did not allow LSC
attorneys to represent welfare recipients in trying to amend
welfare policies
• Possible violation of the First Amendment
• Court ruled that it violated the First Amendment by
regulating private speech and trying to protect and federal
law from legitimate judicial challenges
Problems and Solutions
• Difficult to identify problems- run slightly differently in every
state due to block grants
• Some states have very work-training focused programs- help
parents get back on their feet
• Others simply throw money at parents until they are no longer
eligible
• Solution
• Attach more requirements to block grants so that federal
government has more control over exactly how states run
TANF programs
TANF
Beliefs that influenced its creation:
Civic duty
Individual responsibility
Responsibility to take care of the less fortunate
entitlements
Cost-Benefit Analysis
Who pays for it?
Everyone; funded by taxes
Who benefits?
Families in need
An example of client politics:
Everyone pays, only the needy families benefit.
Related Congressional Committees,
Bureaucratic Departments, and Interest
Groups
• National Organization for Women: President Terry O’Neill
• Department of Health and Human Services: Secretary
Kathleen Sebelius
• House Education and the Workforce Committee: Chairman
John Kline
• Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and
Pensions: Chairman Phil Roe
• Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and
Pensions: Chairman Tom Harkin
• Subcommittee on Children and Families
HEALTH CARE
Current Policy
Under current health care policies, American citizens
purchase health insurance from private companies or
are given health insurance as part of their work
benefits.
Health insurance is a bit of a betting game. The
insurance company is betting that you will pay more
in fees and premiums than they’ll have to pay in your
medical bills; you’re paying the fees and premiums
just in case something happens.
Because of this, those with pre-existing conditions
often face higher fees or are denied coverage
entirely.
Patient Protection and
Affordable Care Act
Would require most Americans to have health
insurance
Would add 16 mill people to Medicaid rolls
Would subsidize health coverage for low and middle
class
Projected cost: $938 bil over 10 years, according to
CBO
Patient Protection and
Affordable Care Act
• Immediate Changes
• Those who were denied coverage for a pre-existing condition
will be offered insurance subsidized by the federal government
• Won’t allow insurance companies to drop people who get sick
or increase rates dramatically for those with pre-existing
conditions
• Extends coverage for children under parents’ plan
• Closes Medicaid “donut hole”
• Gives tax credits to small businesses so they can afford to offer
insurance to their employees
Patient Protection and
Affordable Care Act
• Short-Term Changes
• Free annual check-ups for those on Medicare
• Reforms Medicaid
• Long-Term Changes
• All Americans must have health insurance or pay a fine
• Big companies must provide health insurance with benefits
• Gives tax-credits to poor families
• Establish state-based insurance market exchanges
Because we’re tired of
talking…
• …here’s a video.
•
Court
Cases
State of Florida et al v. US Department of Health and Human
Services et al (US District Court, Northern District of Florida)
(2011)
• Second US judge to declare the reform law unconstitutional
• Said that the “individual mandate” crossed the line by
requiring Americans to buy health insurance by 2014 or pay a
fine
• Because it is integral to the bill, the whole bill must be
declared null and void
• Judges in 26 other states (mostly Republican) have taken
similar stances on the issue
• Will most likely end up in Supreme Court
Influential Beliefs and
Opponents
• What beliefs influence the creation of this policy?
• Both Republicans and Democrats believe the healthcare
system has been in serious need of reform.
• The Democratic plan operates on the premise that access to
health insurance is a fundamental right, and seeks to make it
more widely available to the uninsured and underinsured.
• Who are their chief opponents or advocates for reform?
• Republicans oppose it; their alternative is focused on
reducing the costs of health insurance
• Have made a failed attempt to repeal it; better solution would
be to amend parts of the bill
Costs and Benefits
• Costs
• Will cost $940 billion
• Money will be provided by new taxes, fees on industries
involved in health care, and cuts in projected spending growth
for existing government health efforts, primarily Medicare.
• Benefits
• CBO estimates that enacting will produce a net reduction in
federal deficits of $143 bil from 2010-2019
• Will help the underinsunred and uninsured
Cost-Benefit Analysis
Who pays for it?
Everyone; partially paid for by taxes
Insurance companies lose competitive edge
Who benefits?
Those who cannot afford health insurance, especially
those with pre-exisiting conditions; uninsured and
underinsured
An example of client politics.
Obama’s Thought Process
Medicare
1965- President Lyndon B. Johnson amended the Social
Security Act
Originally, workers intended to pay a small payroll tax
deduction for it
Those who receive it pay a monthly premium for doctor visits,
outpatient services, ER visits, etc.
Fourth most costly program; mandatory spending
2003- Bush enacted Medicare Modernization Act, which
extended prescription drug coverage
Medicare
• Federal health insurance program for those 65 and
over, those with permanent kidney failure, and some
disabled below 65
• Means-tested program
• Managed by states, funded by both state and federal
governments
• Covers hospital insurance, inpatient hospital care,
skilled nursing facility care, home health care, hospice
care, medical insurance (Part B)
Court Cases
• Papciak v. Sebelius
• A federal district court in Pittsburgh rejected termination of skilled
rehabilitation services after 5 wks to an 81 yr old nursing home
resident after hip replacement surgery
• Court said that skilled services can be provided if beneficiary’s
conditions is likely to “improve materially in a reasonable or generally
predictable period of time” or if services are “necessary for the
establishment of a safe and effective maintenance program”
• Anderson v. Sebelius
• Secretary utilized informal, unlawful standard resulting in denial of
services because recipient was believed to be medically stable
• Court said: services can be covered even when recipient’s condition
is stable and unlikely to change; elibility must be based on unique
circumstances
Opponents and Advocates
• Opponents
• Some argue that its development marked a shift away from personal
responsibility and toward a view that health care is an entitlement that
others should pay for.
• Conservatives oppose it under belief that it may lead America to socialism
• Advocates
• Not generally an unearned entitlement
• Entitlement is most commonly based on a record of contributions to the
Medicare fund
• Form of social insurance, which makes it reasonable for people to pay for
insurance for sickness when they are older while they are young and able
to work
• Some will pay in more than they get back and other will get back more
Influential Beliefs
• Prior to 1965, most elderly people had no health
insurance; if they did, it was usually inadequate
• Wanted more access to insurance coverage of
healthcare leading to increased benefits for elderly
• Has also led to higher life expectancy and a decrease
in the poverty rate of eldery
Costs and Benefits
• Costs
• Medicare taxes apply to payments of wages,
regardless of citizenship of either the employee or
employer
• Medicare Benefits by Service in 2010: $510.2 billion
• Benefits
• Help elderly pay for medical services; they paid for
Medicare when they were younger and working
Cost-Benefit Analysis
Who pays for it?
Everyone; paid for by taxes
Who benefits?
All the elderly who cannot afford health insurance.
An example of client politics.
Sure, blame them…
Medicaid
1965- LBJ amends the Social Security Act
Gives free healthcare to the poor
Is funded by national and state governments
Was originally directly linked with welfare
Regulated by states more than federal government
Medicaid
• One can be retroactively eligible up to three months
prior to date of application, if one would have been
eligible then
• Coverage stops when individual rises above “poverty
level”
• Most states have their own state programs for those
who do not qualify for Medicaid
• Hopeful recipients are tested for low income and poor
assets and resources
State and Federal Roles
• The states:
• Receive federal funds in proportion to how much they spend
• May choose to expand eligibility and benefits past minimum
federal requirements
• May reduce provider payments and access to prescription
drugs
• May restrict eligibility and benefits
• Repair shortfalls in spending by increasing taxes
• The federal government:
• Makes and open-ended commitment to match spending of
Funding
• Federal government
spent $295 billion in
2010
• States will spend 7.4%
more than last yearmore due to recession
• American Recovery and
Reinvestment Act
provided $87 billion to
states for Medicaid
Solutions
• Block grants- would not offer an undeclared amount of
funds as it does not, but would reduce unnecessary
costs
• Health Savings Accounts and Vouchers- vouchers
used to buy private health insurance
• Withdrawing assistance from those who are eligible for
Medicaid but can afford insurance
Opponents and Advocates
• Advocates
• Liberals want more welfare programs for the poor;
believe that it is the duty of the government to provide
for them
• Opponents
• Conservatives believe in less regulation of businesses
and healthcare
Supreme Court Cases
• California Assistance of Rural Health Clinics v.
Maxwell-Jolly
• Challenged a law enacted last year that eliminated
coverage for certain services provided by Rural Health
clinics
• Court affirmed that health care providers have a right
to challenge state laws that conflict with or violate
federal Medicaid requirements
Influential Beliefs
• Government should continue to help poor pay for
health insurance; number that need help increasing
• Need for health insurance increased as elderly
population keeps on growing
• Medical costs rising sharply
• Advocacy groups encouraging government action
Costs and Benefits
• Costs
• Discourages self-help
• Either overuse of medical care or can mean that they
receive poorer quality care
• Second largest expenditure in most states
• Benefits
• Helps the poor get much needed medical care
Cost-Benefit Analysis
Who pays for it?
Everyone; paid for by taxes
Who benefits?
Poor mothers and children, disabled and elderly,
and those needing long-term care.
An example of client politics.
•
Related Congressional Committees,
Bureaucratic Departments, and Interest
AARP: CEO A. Barry Rand,
President W. Lee Hammond
Groups
• The Urban League: President and CEO Marc H. Morial
• AMA: Chair of Board of Trustees Dr. Ardis Dee Hoven
• Department of Health and Human Services: Secretary Kathleen
Sebelius
• House Education and the Workforce Committee: Chairman John
Kline
• Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions:
Chairman Phil Roe
• Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions:
Chairman Tom Harkin
• Subcommittee on Retirement and Aging
Social Policy in the
Workplace
Americans with Disabilities
Act (ADA)
Passed July 26, 1990 by George H.W. Bush
Belief that works with workers with disabilities have a
right to be treated equally
Services provided: Accessibility.
Change in designing curb cuts on streets, ramps, lifts,
and other designs of products in buildings, public
spaces, and roads
ADA: How It Works
Employers must provide reasonable accommodations for
disabled employees, unless the accommodations pose an
undue hardship on the employer.
Undue hardship: an action that causes much difficulty
and/or expenses when compared to the employer’s
size, resources, and operation.
Examples: buying or modifying equipment,
adjusting modifying exams, training programs,
and providing interpreters, etc.
ADA
States’ role is described in five titles
Title I
Prohibits employers, including cities and towns,
from discriminating against qualified job
applicants and workers who are or who become
disabled
Title II
Prohibits state and local governments from
discriminating against disabled persons in their
programs and activities
ADA
Title III
Prohibits private enterprises who provide public
accommodations and services (e.g., hotels, restaurants,
and transit systems) from denying goods, services and
programs to people based on their disabilities
Title IV
Makes available telecommunications devices and
services for the hearing and speech impaired
Title V
Miscellaneous provisions that relate to the construction
and application of the ADA, including alternative dispute
resolution.
Court Cases
Sutton and Hinton v. United Air Lines Inc.
Supreme Court re-defined ‘disability’. "A ‘disability’
exists only where an impairment ‘substantially limits’
a major life activity, not where it ‘might,’ ‘could,’ or
‘would’ be substantially limiting if mitigating measures
were not taken.”
Court Cases cont.
Olmstead v. L.C.
The Supreme Court did conclude that, "under Title II
of the ADA, States are required to place persons with
mental disabilities in community settings rather than
in institutions when the State's treatment
professionals have determined that community
placement is appropriate, the transfer from
institutional care to a less restrictive setting is not
opposed by the affected individual, and the
placement can be reasonably accommodated, taking
into account the resources available to the State and
the needs of others with mental disabilities."
Efficacy of ADA
Because of the ADA’s mandating of complimentary
paratransit services more people can get from one place to
another; buildings have made their facilities more
accessible to the disabled. Ie, touching a button to open
door, larger bathroom stalls, elevators, etc.
In 1990, 70 percent of people with disabilities were
unemployed, and the figure remains the same today. Two
problems have been adverse court rulings and
contradictory federal policies that make it difficult for people
with disabilities to work
Percentage of disabled people unemployed has not
decreased, because employers find it costly to provide all
the accommodations for a disabled employee
ADA
Usually being disabled limits amount of work that can
be accomplished
Percentage of disabled population that can work is
6.7%
Proposed solution:
Create Disabled Workers Tax Credit
Providing a wage subsidy encouraging them
to remain in or reenter the workplace after
becoming disabled
Reduce the cost of rehiring and
accommodating
ADA
Some state and local governments have opposed the
ADA
Believe it is unconstitutional to encourage a division
of social class and to provide more benefits to one
group of people than to another
Private business owners have also been in opposition
The ADA and the
ADA is enforced by Bureaucracy
Federal Communications Commission: telecommunications services
regulation
Department of Justice: regulations regarding public accommodations
and state and local government services
Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board: issues
guidelines to ensure that buildings, facilities, and transit vehicles are
usable by those with disabilities; Department of Transportation: transit
regulations
Office of Federal Contract Compliance Program: coordinating authority
under the employment related provisions of ADA; Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission: employment regulations
Civil Rights Center: enforces Title II of ADA (works with state and local
The ADA and Interest
Groups
Media and Disability interest group
Major contributors:
Members and Staff of the National Council on Disability
Chairperson: Marta Bistro
Vice Chairperson: Kate P. Wolters
Executive Director: Ethel D. Briggs
National Rehabilitation Hospital Research Center
Dr. Gerben DeJong: Director
Cost-Benefit Analysis
Who pays for it?
Everyone.
Who benefits?
The disabled.
An example of client politics.
These are tough times…
Skills For America’s Future
• Proposed by President Obama in October 2010 to improve
industry relationships with community colleges to ensure that
students are acquiring skills and knowledge needed to enter
the labor force
• Goal: 5 mil more community college graduates by 2020
• Works through initiative matches of employers (Aspen
Institute, McDonald’s) with community colleges in all states in
order to create programs to prepare students for working life
Skills for America’s Future,
cont.
• Efforts in seven main areas:
• Executive agency action
• State/gubernatorial outreach
• Workforce investment system outreach
• Educational outreach
• Events
• Media
• Sponsorships
Costs and Benefits
•
Benefits:
•
Build career paths with businesses
•
Advance teaching of skills
•
Establish education partnerships
•
Support new online courses
•
Costs:
•
Very new policy- public has not seen effects of its implementation yet
•
Monetary costs may outweigh the long-term benefits
•
May significantly reduce employment in young adult work force without college
education because the competition for jobs is already high among community
college students
Cost-Benefit Analysis
Who pays for it?
Everyone; paid for by taxes
Who benefits?
Those who attend community colleges.
An example of client politics.
Education
Title I
Signed by Lyndon B. Johnson in April 1965
Provides financial assistance through state educational
agencies (SEAs) to local educational agencies (LEAs) and
schools with high numbers/percentages of poor children to
help ensure all children meet challenging state academic
standards; based on Census poverty ratings and cost of
education per state
Funds support extra instruction in: reading, math, preschool
programs, after-school programs, summer programs
Funding
appropriations have grown by 60% since 1994; in 2008,
appropriated $13,898,875,000;
Title I State Involvement
Title I standards, curriculum, and instruction are tied to those
developed within each state for all children
Evaluations cannot assess the program in isolation from
state and local reform efforts
Developing comprehensive statewide data systems allow
districts and schools to track student achievement over time,
link student and teacher data, and gather information on
school- and district-level performance
Consulting Resolution would eliminate all federal funding
for statewide data systems
Title I State Involvement,
cont’d.
President’s budget recognizes that strong data
systems are critically important in order to identify
strategies
•
No
Child
Left
Behind
Proposed by George W. Bush and Senator Ted Kennedy (D)
• Main idea: if a child begins to fall behind, any measures
necessary will be taken to get them at least to the standards
of the state.
• Goals
• Increase the accountability of states, school districts, and
schools
• Give more choices to parents and students
• Provide more flexibility for states and local education
agencies when using federal education grants
• Put a stronger emphasis on reading, especially for younger
children
Funding
• Federal government has given states $400 mil per
year to enforce NCLB
• Increased Title 1 grants by 59%
• Dept. of Education distributes funding to schools and
school districts with students from low income families
• Gave more flexibility to the states
•
Problems
and
Solutions
NCLB offers parents to send their children to another school if the
local school is in “need of improvement”; more difficult for rural
children due to transportation issues
• Already difficult to find teachers; raising standards will require
more training
• Pathway to Teaching Careers Program (identifying and training
noncertified teachers), Teachers of Tomorrow (offers salary
bonuses to teach in shortage areas), Teaching as a Priority
(incentives to teach in low quality schools)
• Only grades 5-12 can be offered learning through computer
programs
• Those who provide technology for learning do not need to provide
services to every school district in a state; this tends to benefit
schools in cities
Opponents and Advocates
• Supporters
• Believe test results will improve the overall quality of
education
• Want to democratize US education by setting
standards and providing resources to schools
• Opponents
• Teacher unions
• Do not agree with standardized testing
Court Cases
• Horne v. Flores (2009)
• In Jan. 2000, US District Court for Arizona cited the
state for civil contempt because it failed to fund
English language learner programs
• Superintendent of programs argued that increases in
state funding and NCLB altered the foundations of
district court’s ruling on not funding the programs
• Supreme Court ruled that the lower court’s standard
was too strict and the federal district court could
examine legal areas to grant relief to AZ
Costs and Benefits
• Costs
• Underfunded at the state level
• Concentrates on standardized testing
• Benefits
• Flexibility encouraged accountability
Cost-Benefit Analysis
Who pays for it?
Everyone; paid for by taxes
Who benefits?
Public school students, teachers, staff, and
parents.
An example of client politics.
Related Congressional Committees,
Bureaucratic Departments, and Interest
Groups
• House Education and the Workforce Committee: Chairman
John Kline
• Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and
Secondary Education: Chairman Duncan D. Hunter
• Subcommittee on Workforce Protection: Chairman Tim
Walberg
• Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Training:
Chairwoman Virginia Foxx
• Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions:
Chairman Phil Roe
Related Congressional Committees,
Bureaucratic Departments, and Interest
Groups, cont.
• Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions:
Chairman Tom Harkin
• Subcommittee on Children and Families
• Subcommittee on Employment and Workplace Safety
• Department of Education: Secretary Arne Duncan
• Department of Labor: Secretary Hilda L. Solis
• AFL-CIO: President Richard L. Trumka
• American Federation of Teachers: President Randi
Weingarten
What we really ship to
China…
Bibliography
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