One of the functions of the standards surrounding Accountability Systems is that of acting to influence local, district, state, and national decisions affecting student learning.

However, I believe that before acting, a school leader needs to know the following:

• What his/her personal politics are
• Where their line is

I may not know where I stand on every topic, but at least I now have an opinion on a number of federal, state, and local issues surrounding education.

I believe the power of education should lie at the local and state levels.  I am very much against federal intervention, and believe that if the federal government wants to assist, it should do so in the form of bloc grants, giving the trust to the states to spend it in the ways that would most benefit each one.

Local Level Issues

The attached paper focuses on the Lyndhurst School District in New Jersey.  It presents such information as:

• a framework of the district
• the key players
• the current issues affecting the district, such as the effects of the Anti-Bullying Bill of Rights Act, a new testing program, graduation rates, post high school paths, and teacher misconduct

and concludes with my personal summary of the Lyndhurst School District and opinion of where the power in education should lie.

State Level Issues

The attached paper focuses on the issues at play in the state of Indiana in regards to private schools.  It presents such information as:

• a framework of private schools in Indiana
• Indiana’s School Choice Program
• key players advocating for non-public school education in Indiana
• the current issues affecting private schools in Indiana

and concludes with my personal opinion on the state of affairs of non-public schools in Indiana.

Federal Level Issues

The attached paper focuses on the national issue of voucher programs in regards to private schools in the United States.  It presents:

• a framework of private schools
• the history of voucher programs
• the controversy surrounding them
• key players in the national debate on voucher programs

and concludes with my personal recommendation on the voucher program issue.