Achieving Equity and Equality in Education: Implementing Necessary Policies - Essay Sample

Introduction

Maintaining equity and equality in education is part of the goals that all related stakeholders intent on achieving. As part of maintaining equity, the stakeholders ensure that the students receive the necessary support they require for them to be successful. In contrast, equality, on the other hand, ensures that all students are treated the same. Implementing equity and equality requires the implementation of various policies which provide the students with equal opportunities of being successful. Different stakeholders link both equity and equality in education to fairness and inclusion, which ensures minimum standards are set in schools which should be shared among the students. It is therefore important to consider the different responsibilities of the federal government, state government, and local school districts regarding education policy and determine the equality and effectiveness of the education offered by such stakeholders.

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Responsibilities of the Federal, State Governments, and Local School Districts

Federal Government

Historically, the federal government has played a great role in maintaining equity and equality in education, and it had initially not been involved in issuing any educational policy not until the 1960s. A report was initially published by the National Science Foundation indicating some of the educational policies that were being used during the Johnson administration and the involvement of the federal government towards maintaining equity and equality in education has increased since then (Griffen, 2020). Some of the policies that have been implemented by the federal government towards maintaining equity and equality include equal access to education and safeguarding both the students` and teachers` constitutional rights.

Equity and equality in education are not only considered as constitutional rights like the ones enjoyed by the assembly, but its significant ensured constitutional protection. Therefore, through the 14th Amendment implemented by the federal government, it protects all the students from any form of discrimination based on ethnicity, race, or gender (Griffen, 2020). Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) influences the federal government when allocating its funds to various schools (Griffen, 2020). The Act ensures that the majority of such money is distributed towards the assistance programs for children living with disabilities. The rest is distributed to other school district controlled by the ESSA. The federal government evaluates all the schools equally based on the National Assessment Educational Progress (NEAP). The National Science Foundation and the Department of Education, on the other hand, plays a significant role in recommending the best teaching strategies.

State Governments

The state governments maintain equity and equality in education through their responsibilities for the maintenance and operation of public schools. The states are considered to play a role in the educational policy through establishing, selecting, and regulating the curriculum and the teaching methods that are effective to all students in the schools. The state legislatures have as well maintained a mandatory requirement that must be followed by all schools to ensure that the students successfully graduate. Most of the state constitutions have developed express provisions that oversee the creation of the educational curricula (Migliarini & Stinson, 2020). Other states support the educational policy by empowering their authorities to create educational curricula.

Local School Districts

As part of maintaining equity and equality in education, the local school districts support the educational policies by offering different courses and activities within the instructional programs that are beyond the ones indicated by the state governments. Other districts even delegate more of their authority. That plays a great role in prescribing the model curriculum framework that accommodates all the students within the respective local school districts (Migliarini & Stinson, 2020). Therefore, the local authorities are provided with a better chance of developing their curricula which is based on the goals that have already been set by their respective states.

Equality and Effectiveness of Education Provided by States and Local Municipalities

The question about the equality and effectiveness of the education provided by the states and local municipalities are vexing considering the scarcity of resources allocated to education. Although the majority of the societies provide free education to their citizens, funding for education is part of the reasons why there is a lack of equality and effectiveness in the education provided by the states and municipalities. Other basic welfare needs are never weighed against the funds allocated to ensure there is equality and effectiveness of the education provided (Salmon, 2020). That results in scarcity of education even in some highly productive societies in those parts.

The scarcity of educational opportunities is evident through how accessing high-quality education is only limited to children from families that can afford to live in the middle-class houses. Students continue to be segregated based on their race and by class, mainly because of the de facto residential segregation in the states and local municipalities (Salmon, 2020). Such segregation has significantly affected equality and effectiveness in education whose impact is felt by either the poor or minority students in the states and local municipalities.

Conclusion

Many believe that equity and equality in education is the greatest source of national strength. Therefore, the federal government, state government, and local school districts should consider their responsibilities regarding education policy. Equality and effectiveness of the education offered by states and local municipalities should also be maintained. Equal access to education and safeguarding both the students` and teachers` constitutional rights are some of the policies that have been maintained by the federal government towards maintaining equity and equality in education.

References

Griffen, Z. (2020). The production of education: the turn from equity to efficiency in US federal education policy. Journal of Education Policy, 1-19. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02680939.2020.1751884

Migliarini, V., & Stinson, C. (2020). Inclusive education in the (new) era of anti-immigration policy: enacting equity for disabled English language learners. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 1-17. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/09518398.2020.1735563

Salmon, J. (2020). Financing Higher Education through Equity, Not Debt: The Case for Income Share Agreements. Journal of School Choice, 1-24. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15582159.2020.1769447