Education is today largely paid for and almost entirely administered by governmental bodies or non-profit institutions. In such a free private enterprise exchange economy, government's primary role is to preserve the rules of the game by enforcing contracts, preventing coercion, and keeping markets free.
The New South Wales Department of Education, a department of the Government of New South Wales, is responsible for the delivery and co-ordination of early childhood, primary school, secondary school, vocational education, adult, migrant and higher education in the state of New South Wales, Australia.
The federal government contributed A$47.2 billion (42%) of the overall funding. State, territory and local governments spent A$39.1 billion (35%).
All kids living in the United States have the right to a free public education. And the Constitution requires that all kids be given equal educational opportunity no matter what their race, ethnic background, religion, or sex, or whether they are rich or poor, citizen or non-citizen.
It does state in the 10th Amendment that “the powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution … are reserved to the States respectively.” This might seem to preclude any federal oversight of education, except that the 14th Amendment requires all states to provide “any person within its jurisdiction the
1. Delegated (sometimes called enumerated or expressed) powers are specifically granted to the federal government in Article I, Section 8 of the Constitution. This includes the power to coin money, to regulate commerce, to declare war, to raise and maintain armed forces, and to establish a Post Office.
By maintaining local control over education, communities have more of a chance to have a larger impact on schooling, and address their individual students' unique needs better than the federal government would be able to.
The No Child Left Behind Act authorizes several federal education programs that are administered by the states. The law is a reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. Under the 2002 law, states are required to test students in reading and math in grades 3–8 and once in high school.
School funding is a blend of federal, state, and local dollars. Local funding largely comes from property taxes. Designed to ensure adequate funding across schools—and occasionally to promote equity—funding formulas distribute revenue to districts based on a variety of factors.
In the 2004-05 school year, 83 cents out of every dollar spent on education is estimated to come from the state and local levels (45.6 percent from state funds and 37.1 percent from local governments). The federal government's share is 8.3 percent.
When school districts spend money wisely, they have better outcomes, including higher test scores, increased graduation rates, and other improved indicators of student achievement. More money also helps ensure that students have schools with better facilities and more curriculum options.
Funding disparities for city students are a nationwide issue: Public school pupils enrolled in urban districts receive on average around $2,100 less per pupil than their suburban counterparts, and $4,000 less than students who attend rural remote schools, according to a recent study by EdBuild.
Funding for private schools is generally provided through student tuition, endowments, scholarship/school voucher funds, and donations and grants from religious organizations or private individuals.
Lack of funding means low salaries for teachers. Cuts to education spending affect all aspects of students' academic experience, from the condition of the school building to the courses offered and the teachers in the classroom. In fact, teacher salaries and benefits account for the majority of public school spending.
The Courts and Voters Put the State In ChargeUntil the late 1970's, schools in California were predominantly funded by local property taxes, as in most other states.
The federal government plays an important role in funding local schools, and without federal funding many schools would cease to exist. Tests such as the ACT and SAT don't affect federal funding, but annual achievement tests measuring student knowledge can alter the funds to which a school has access.
Those numbers come from the Association of Independent Schools and Colleges In Alberta (AISCA). But do some simple math with the figures we just looked at, and you'll come to a different result: Public: $7.1 billion ÷ 649,245 students = $10,936 per student.