An overview of American schools, including the impact of America's changing demographics, will be presented. The structure of American schools, from the local to the federal level, will show that schools systems are bureaucracies within bureaucracies. Local school boards, superintendents, teachers, students, and community members all are part of what is called the American system of education.
The local school district as an autonomous entity is the basic building block upon which public education in America is founded. The system of allowing local governance of education goes back to the "little red schoolhouse" tradition of local communities educating their young people in the manner they thought best. As American society moved from an agrarian to an industrial base, the state gradually assumed more control of local school operations. In recent decades, the federal government has assumed a more encompassing role in its issuance of mandates, regulations, and guidelines regarding how education should be governed by the states. In short, the little red school house is now governed by the state capitol, and the state capitol is regulated by the Congress. Such is the bureaucratic buildup in a capsule form.
Today, the public schools of the United States are administered by 50 state systems and more than 10,000 local school districts. This plan stands in marked contrast to the administrative systems of countries that have all public education directed by a national ministry. The pathway from federal to state to local administration of schools is one that is long and convoluted, and the effectiveness of such an organization should be questioned. At the same time, America should be concerned with the education of its citizens as a nation, and states should offer equal and compatible programs for students. Such should be the case, but often times it is not. States are autonomous in terms of how much money they spend per pup...