by Rick Scobey

Created on: August 27, 2008   Last Updated: January 16, 2011

One of the most serious problems in public education is that a lot of students are getting too much power over the teacher. There are several forces that are involved in the whole educational enterprise in our country: industry, the federal government, the state, the local school boards, the administrators, the teachers, the parents, the students, and the criminal justice system.

Industry sets the pace for goals and objective needed in our educational system. The federal government requires accountability from the local school districts in terms of learning (such as the No Child Left Behind Act) and in terms of what is done with the federal money provided to school districts. The state provides statewide guidelines and parameters for the local districts to operate which includes standardized testing. The local school districts adopt local guidelines, rules, regulations, and policies, that must be complied with by school administrators, teachers, students, and even parents.

The criminal justice system provides security in the school halls and campuses throughout the individual school districts in almost all of the states in the U.S. The district and local courts even get involved in enforcing compulsive school attendance laws and other matters relating to gangs, violence, and other matters such as truancy.

However, the most influential force in our communities that directly and indirectly affects our nation's schools across the country is POLITICS! This political force is the power that determines who-is-who and what-is-what at the local district level in our schools and in the classroom. This significant element is composed of three powerful components in our local communities: the parents as parents, the parents as taxpayer, and the parents as voters!

Of course not all parents are voters and taxpayers. However, for the most part, superintendents and school board members tend to "perceive a political fear" that affects their decision making process. This "perceived political fear" also affects the support required by administrators and teachers in order to maintain an optimum amount of power over the student in order to have an orderly school campuses, hallways, and classrooms. In some localities, the local school district scenario turns into a five ring circus among the parents, the school board, administrators, school teachers, and the students. The "tiger in the ring with the last say so" of course are the parents during election time since a lot of them

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