The State Role in Education: Past Research and Future Directions
Abstract
Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis July-August, Vol. 2 No. 4, 1980 The State Role in Education: Past Research and Future Directions Jerome T. Murphy Institute for Educational Policy Studies Harvard University Introduction The states have seemingly come of age in the governance of education. Since the mid-1960's, state governments have grappled with controversial problems of desegregation, student rights and unrest, school finance reform, aid to minority groups, fiscal crises and tax caps, declining enrollment and confidence, collective bargaining, and accountability and competency testing. During this time, powerful coalitions of educational interest groups have fallen apart; active new groups have joined the competition for limited resources; the courts have entered the fray, and governors and legislators have increased their participation: building professional staffs, overseeing budgets, taking stands on educational issues.1 The original version of this paper was prepared for the Legal and Governmental Studies Team, Program on Educational Policy and Organization, National Institute for Education. I would like to thank NIE, as well as the Ford Foundation, for its support in writing this paper. I would also like to thank Susan Johnson, Alfred Light and Brenda Turnbull for their helpful comments on an earlier draft of this paper. The