Essay Sample on Public Schools: Houston's Decentralization & Centralization

Introduction

In most cases, public schools are under the management of the local governments a situation that is referred to as education institutions decentralization. However, between the 1970s and the 1980s, the state governments have used independent public schools takeovers or centralization as one of the most preferred approaches of addressing problems within local district schools (Morel, 2016). Therefore, the Houston Independent School District takeover is a normal procedure and approach that the state government use to streamline critical issues affecting the school district and does not interfere with learning processes (Troutman, 2014). One of the significant worries recognized in the centralization of independent schools like Houston is the loss of the local community voice in matters regarding the school management, the management preference and the racial background of the teachers in the schools. In this essay, I will address the key concerns surrounding the Houston Independent School centralization and how different stakeholders will be affected.

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Political Outcomes of State Government Centralization of Houston Independent School

One of the primary ramifications in the centralization of independent schools such as the case of HISD is the political pacification. In Houston, the independent schools have engraved political empowerment and are viewed as institutions for blacks and Latino political empowerment discourse and source of their identity (Morel, 2016). The takeover of the HISD will significantly eliminate one-sided representation in the school board and foster an holistic approach in which the local actors will be replaced by the state authorities which will reduce the local Houston community which the school serves overall say in the school matters as the state authorities and procedures take center stage of the school management. One of the primary cause of the decline in the political participation and empowerment of the local community as a result of the HISD takeover will be the replacement of the local school board with state-appointed school boards which deny the local communities the potential to make decisions (Morel, 2016). Even in the case when the state retains the existing school board, they are stripped of their former authority which significantly reduces the local community participation or representation in the school affairs after the takeover. However, this is not usually the case because the state takeover can of independent schools help improve the representation of the minorities by facilitating the restructuring of the school boards where minorities are repressed and giving them positions of representation (Morel, 2016).

State's Takeover of Independent Schools Improves Performance and Management

One of the significant positive implication of states taking over independent schools is their potential to turn them around in terms of students performance. States have enormous resources compared to the local governments and have the potential of investing in infrastructure and learning resources through federal education grants which can be instrumental towards improving the performance of the formerly independent owned schools which are deprived of resources (Schueler, Goodman, & Deming, 2017). Besides, state takeover of HISD will be instrumental towards promoting professional and competent leadership through state merit-based appointee of the school board, which will eliminate the local politics which can be detrimental to the overall school performance. The local politics and election based school board can be detrimental to the school management and also cause mismanagement of resources due to corruption (Schueler et al., 2017). On the other hand, the state-based appointees to the school board operate professionally and also ensure high accountability which is instrumental towards performance improvement of the students as well as racial representation and security.

Through state takeover, HISD will experience greater leadership autonomy and accountability compared to the time when it was still under the local government where politics significantly influences the school board election and contributes to corruption and loss of school resources accountability (Troutman, 2014). Corruption of the school board when the school is independent significantly reduces the overall performance and also breeds racial inequality and politics, which inhibit professionalism. Under the state management, HISD will experience more exceptional professionalism in how the school is managed and hiring of professional teachers following procedures of merit instead of racial and nepotism biases common in independent schools under local government districts. Besides, under a state takeover, the HISD will undergo nationally recognized school remodelling, which will be instrumental in standardizing the essential operations and academic programs to meet the national level requirements (Troutman, 2014).

Conclusion

There are wide implications of HISD school takeover by the state which ranges from undermining of the local racial and minority empowerment and arrangements. The state primary reason for taking over independent schools such as the HISD is to improve performance, accountability within the school, curb malpractices and promote cohesion through interracial representation in the school. State takeover of HISD will improve racial representation and respect by ensuring that the school meets the national standards of representation instead of domination of only a few racial groups who are the majority in Houston. The state takeover will improve the school performance through improved management and elimination of local political interference into the school management decision making processes.

References

Morel, D. (2016). The effects of centralized government authority on Black and Latino political empowerment. Political Research Quarterly, 69(2), 347-360. Retrieved from https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1065912916639136

Schueler, B. E., Goodman, J. S., & Deming, D. J. (2017). Can states take over and turn around school districts? Evidence from Lawrence, Massachusetts. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 39(2), 311-332. Retrieved from https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.3102/0162373716685824

Troutman, J. D. (2014). State Takeovers of School Districts: A Correlational Study (Doctoral dissertation). Retrieved from https://uh-ir.tdl.org/handle/10657/1437