Education in the United States Essay Example for Free

pedagogy in the fall in States EssayEducation in the united States of America is governed by the Department of Education. There atomic number 18 three different levels of control and backup for ordinary education federal, state, and topical anaesthetic. In the United States direct is mandatory from Kindergarten by dint of High School, consisting of thirteen different grade levels. Students can dominate an education by attending a usual shallow, a secret school, or a sign school.In order to agree that wholly students obtain the academic knowledge needed to progress through the grade levels, standardized tests are given regardless of where a student obtains an education (United States Department of Education, 2005). Education in the United States is governed and funded mainly by local jurisdictions, with the state and federal governments supervising educational activities and ensuring that all local jurisdictions are administering standardized tests and obtaining the patronage needed to operate adequate educational facilities.The Tenth Amendment to the United States opus states that all powers that are non assigned to the federal government by the United States Constitution are reserved to the people or the individual states. As per the Tenth Amendment, the individual states control unexclusive education. Most states are divided into local jurisdictions that have elected school boards that oversee the individual school districts within its jurisdiction.The local school districts own and operate the public schools within its boundaries and are responsible for obtaining bread and butter for severally of the public schools they control (United States Constitution, Tenth Amendment, 1787). The majority of the funding for public education in the United States is obtained from local measurees and state governments. The federal government only provides 8. 5% of the currency for public education (National have-to doe with for Education Stati stics, 2008).There has been some controversy over the No Child Left Behind impress passed in 2001 which allows the federal government to withhold funding if a state or local school district is non complying with the standards set forth in the No Child Left Behind Act. However, the funding withheld for non-compliance is not a significant criterion (No Child Left Behind Act, 2001). There is a larger controversy over the local school districts obtaining funding primarily from local taxes.Local jurisdictions can land many different types of taxes on its citizens. In the commonwealth of momma there has been controversy over the lying of excise taxes and corporate taxes. Excise taxes are taxes that are not property taxes or taxes that are oblige secondaryd on statutory law. Corporate taxes are imposed on corporations within a certain(prenominal) jurisdiction that are paid to the local government. These taxes are in addition to any federal or state taxes that the corporation is r esponsible for.Businesses in the commonwealth of milliampere are required to pay either quarter excise taxes on an accelerated basis due 15 days prior to the end of apiece quarter. The first quarter payment is 40% of the required annual excise tax, the second and third payments are 25% each, and the fourth payment is 10% of the excise tax. The minimum core of corporate excise tax required of all corporations operating within the commonwealth of mummy is $456 per year regardless of whether or not the corporation made a profit that year (The National Federation of Independent Business, 2007).Chapter 70 area 1, Title XII, Chapter 70 of the General Laws of Massachusetts regulates the financial disbursements awarded to each public school district passim the commonwealth. The legislative intent of Chapter 70 is to assure fair and adequate minimum per student funding for public schools in the commonwealth by defining a foundation cipher and a standard of local funding effort appli c fitted to every city and town in the commonwealth (Chapter 70). Chapter 70 sets up rules on how to allocate the money.These rules set standards on how the money will be distributed if it is below a udder amount or high than a base amount. For example, in Section 13, Part B, the law states that if the amount appropriated is much than the base amount, funds shall first be allocated to ensure that the state school aid for each municipality equals the base amount (Chapter 70). This part tries to ensure that an equal distribution is set to each school. Although this is only occurs when more money is availcapable, it still sets the standard that each school will at least get its base amount before other funds are distributed.In the event that there are not enough funds to cover the base, a formula has been established to attempt to make the distribution fair. The amount is reduced by a constant amount per student. The rate is found by the difference mingled with the base amount and the actual amount divided by the summarize enrollment of the state (Chapter 70). Cambridge, Massachusetts Cambridge, Massachusetts is a city right outside Boston, Massachusetts. Cambridge is famous for its two prominent universities Harvard University and the Massachusetts represent of Technology.The public school system in Cambridge is controlled by the Cambridge macrocosm School order which consists of twelve principal(a) schools, of which eleven extend through eighth grade. There is only one high school in the Cambridge earth School District, Cambridge Rindge and Latin School. The Cambridge Public School District educates over 5,500 students every year with a project enrollment of 5,790 students for the 2008-2009 school year. The Cambridge Public School District has a proposed budget of $130,704,170. 00 for the 2008-2009 school year. This proposed budget has increased 2.36% from the previous year. 75% of this proposed budget will be allocated to the individual schools withi n the district. The rest 25% of this budget will be spent on administrative costs such as maintenance and security. The Cambridge Public School District is funded through a transformation of sources in addition to local taxes. The Cambridge Public School District fetchs funds from thirteen federal grants awarded by the commonwealth of Massachusetts, eleven hugger-mugger grants, eleven revolving funds, ten state grants, two district federal grants, and one state-circuit breaker reimbursement.These grants account for $13,714,499 of the total funds needed to operate the schools within the Cambridge Public School District. The Cambridge Public School District overly receives an average of $1,076 per student from Chapter 70 financial aid each year (Action Public Schools, 2006). Newton, Massachusetts Newton, Massachusetts is a suburb of Boston that consists of thirteen small villages. The Newton Public School District controls the xv elementary schools, four middle schools, and two high schools that are located in Newton, Massachusetts.The Newton Public School District educates an average of over 11,000 students each year throughout its twenty two public schools (Newton Public School District, 2008). The Newton Public School District has a proposed budget of $171,377,580 for the 2008-2009 school year. This proposed budget has increased 10. 5% from the previous year. According to this budget, the Newton Public School District spends $14,743 per student every year (Newton Public School District, 2008). The Newton Public School District is funded through a variety of sources in addition to local taxes.The Newton Public School District receives 55% of the revenue generated by the City of Newton. The Newton Public School District also receives over $8. 6 million dollars from federal, state, and hidden grants. Over $3 million dollars of the Newton Public School District budget is received from a program called Circuit Breaker which allocates special funds to school districts for additional special education courses. Federal, state, and private grants and the Circuit Breaker program account for almost $12 million dollars of the annual budget (Newton Public School District, 2006).The Newton Public School District also receives an average of $846 per student from Chapter 70 financial aid each year (Action Public Schools, 2006). Conclusions Allocating funds for public education in the United States is a complex process. Wealth and more funds do not necessarily lead to greater acquirement by the students enrolled in the school district. Federal, state, and local jurisdictions must determine the most beneficial methods for allocating the educational funds available.These allocations are not equal and usually result in the more industrious neighborhoods receiving less funding from these sources, and incurring higher corporate taxes. The Newton Public School District receives less funding from international sources, and its businesses pay more corpo rate taxes. The allocated budget in the Newton Public School District is higher than the budget in Cambridge due to the fact that although the populations are similar, Newton operates twice as many educational facilities.. The Newton Public School District does not need the extra funds from external sources in order to reach its budget. Although the dollar amounts indicate an unfair advantage for the residents of Cambridge, both school districts are able to meet their budgets and educate their students adequately. Although the corporate tax system and excise tax system in Massachusetts may seem unfair to its businesses and residents, the public school districts within Massachusetts (including Newton and Cambridge) are able to meet the budget requirements due to the Chapter 70 allocations.The purpose of Chapter 70 is to create equality amongst the school districts and ensure that the cities that receive less corporate and excise tax are still able to operate flourishing public schoo l districts so that every child within the commonwealth of Massachusetts has the opportunity to receive a quality education.REFERENCESThe United States Census Bureau (2006). American FactFinder. Retrieved April 1, 2008 from http//factfinder. census. gov/ Action Public Schools (2006). Chapter 70 wait on Per Student High to Low. Retrieved April 1, 2008 from http//ab. mec. edu/about/Chapter70Aid/CH70PerStudentFY06.pdf Newton, Massachusetts (2008). 2008 position Tax Rates. Retrieved April 1, 2008 from http//www. ci. newton. ma. us/Assessor/taxrate. htm Cambridge Massachusetts (2008). 2008 Property tax Rates. Retrieved April 1, 2008 from http//www. cambridgema. gov/CityOfCambridge_Content/documents/FY2008_Property_Tax_Update_Newsletter. pdf Newton Public School District (2008). General Information. Retrieved April 1, 2008 from http//www. newton. k12. ma. us Cambridge Public School District (2008). General Information. Retrieved April 1, 2008 from http//www. cpsd. us/index. cfm