Understanding Policymaking in the U.S. Public Education System

	School governance and education policymaking in the United States include a variety of stakeholders, laws, regulations and funding streams at each level—federal, state and local. Here, we offer a guide to which levels of government are responsible for making which education policy and funding decisions, which agencies or other entities are the most critical decision makers, and how you can effect change at key points in the process. With this information in mind, you can find more information about how best to target your specific advocacy project on the Levers of Change pages and get tips on effective advocacy strategies on the Advocacy Cycle pages.

Overview

Public education in the United States is predominantly a state and local responsibility. The U.S. Constitution does not mention education among the responsibilities or focuses of the federal government or as a federally protected right of U.S. citizens and residents, whereas most state constitutions establish education as a basic right. Thus, education is an area of policy and governance that is left up to states to lead. The result is a patchwork of 50 state systems of education, plus those in the District of Columbia and the territories—each with its own unique system of governance, policy, curriculum, assessment and accountability, and funding streams.

It’s therefore challenging to make too many accurate generalizations about public education in the U.S., but we can say that typically the following is true:

Local school districts operate schools and often set policies for curriculum and instruction.
States tend to focus on setting policies that outline a framework for the operation of schools, such as high school graduation requirements and teacher certification regulations.
The federal government provides support for special populations of students, such as students with disabilities, low-income students and English language learners. These supports include creating regulations and guidelines, and offering some supplementary funding to protect the educational rights of each of these groups and ensure that state and local education agencies appropriately meet their needs. The federal government sets guidelines for the protection of civil rights and also conducts research.

Funding

The United States spends $652 billion on elementary and secondary education, or about $10,720 per student on average. Per-student expenditures vary widely from state to state and from district to district because each state has a unique formula for financing education.
On average, states provide roughly 49 percent of funding, and districts provide approximately 42 percent.
The federal government generally provides about nine percent of the funding for schools, although recent boosts in federal investments are causing a slight increase in that pattern. Early estimates regarding those recent increases indicate a bump in federal funding to roughly 10.5 percent. However, it is uncertain whether the new influx of dollars will remain constant in the future. Although the relatively small federal investment in education funding can seem surprising, it makes sense considering that the majority of other oversight responsibilities for education reside at the state and local levels