Education in every regard is one of the fundamental elements that are vital for community development. As a rule, economic experts focus on the productive aspect of education. After all, investment in learning institutions is the most effective practice by which societies can influence the future while investing in the development of human resources. It is beyond question that education improves the proficiency levels of individuals and contributes to the growth and spread of technological advancement across the country. It is a kind of funding where governmental financing plays a significant role, even in regions where the state is not involved in economic activity as much as, for example, in the U.S. The primary question of educational policy is whether an investment in that field offers worthy benefits to society in general. For this paper, it is important to investigate the policy goals and frameworks.
The federal role in education has expanded rapidly since World War II. The development of educational federal policy started in the 1940s, when the Servicemen’s Adjustment Act was signed, allowing veterans to get financial aid for future education and further adjustment in a civilian society (Bacon, Kelly, Brady, Shea-Porter, & Rosen, 2018). Then came the 1950s and Brown v. Board of Education, which made segregation unconstitutional (Levin, 2018). From the 1950s through the 1970s, the main goal of most federal support of education was reaching equality. At that time it meant attempting to compensate for the injustice in educational institutions that resulted from socio-economic disadvantage, discrimination against race, and income. Nevertheless, over the past few decades, the emphasis has changed to closing achievement disparities by raising the effectiveness of education for all students, no matter the color of their skin or social status. Furthermore, in recent years, the federal government has taken on increasing management authority in the national dialogue about education. The state began to assert stronger control over policy in the country on both federal and local levels through legislation, regulations, and financial incentives.
In order to implement a beneficial educational policy, states should guide the education sector through a framework of general rules. It includes applying policy objectives, and funding mechanisms and incentives for quality education. First of all, the state has to make sure that primary education is free of charge and compulsory for every citizen. Additionally, higher education should be equally available on the grounds of individual capacity, not on the grounds of financial situation. Furthermore, it is also crucial to guarantee the same standards of education in all public schools, colleges and universities. Finally yet equally important it would be providing up-to-date training for the teachers. All those strategies allow education to be fully directed to the full development of the professional competence, but future economic growth as well.
Needless to say, all entitlements in educational policy have their advantages and disadvantages. Federal engagement in educational policy eliminates the disparities in the system; however, it increases bureaucracy, thus making the system unnecessarily complicated. The federal government could create universal standards, thus stopping educational institutions from discriminating students on the base of their skin color, income, etc. However, those standards could be too vague to follow, creating uncertainty and loopholes in the system. Moreover, new standards would require additional costs not only in other industries. Since taxpayers support governmental educational expenses financially, the prices of high-quality education will keep rising. In that way the basic right to education is denied, as well as opportunities to contribute to country’s economy.
In conclusion, it would appear that the education contributes a lot to economic growth of the country, since it creates technological advances. The investigation above confirms that the government has the power to reduce poverty and financial disparity by means of educational policy. The amount of state involvement in this field has risen significantly in recent times, though it remains balanced. In any case, it is a necessary measure to eliminate imperfections in the system.
References
Bacon, R. D., Kelly, R. T., Brady, R. R., Shea-Porter, R. C., & Rosen, R. J. (2018). Proceedings of speed warrior outcomes, research, detection and diagnosis (SWORDD) Act of 2018, Washington, DC: HR 5528, 115th Congress.
Levin, B. (2018). The courts, social science, and school desegregation. London: Routledge.