Slide 3

The hierarchy of government plays a role in governing educational statutes. The federal level includes constitutional law and the Department of Education, which provides guidance and funding to states. States are responsible for policies and curriculums, and have oversight of local school districts. School districts are governed by their own boards of education, which heavily influence local policies and procedures. This can result in differences between districts. Alright, before we jump into the topic of teacher rights and responsibilities, I did want to offer just a bit of a contextual review when it comes to the hierarchy of government and the role that each one plays in the governance of our educational statutes. So, if we take a look at the federal level, if you remember from the first class, that is where the constitutional law is, the Department of Education, which offers guidance, oftentimes dollars and programs to the state. The state, where the onus of responsibility resides, is responsible for policies, it's responsible for curriculums, it has a great deal of oversight of the local school districts. The school districts themselves are governed by their own boards of education, which as we discussed, heavily influence the policies and procedures that occur within the local districts themselves, and those can be dramatically different from district to district, depending on the leverage, interpretation, and influence of each local board.