The Effects of Interest Groups

My community partner participates in politics by taking public stands on campaigns based on their policy towards education. The teachers of the school are all required to be a part of the Teacher’s Union which will donate money to the campaigns and candidates that best reflect the interests of the school district and teachers. In order for the Teacher’s Union to have money to donate to political campaigns, each teacher has a small amount of money taken out of their paychecks to be given to the Teacher’s Union. The Teacher’s Union has the ability to donate money as an interest group. For example, in table 5.1 titled “The Twenty Most Influential Interests in the States”; it notes that Schoolteacher’s organizations (NEA and AFT) are seen as effective interest groups in 31 states (101). It is interesting that the book says this because teachers unions are seen to be one of the most effective interests groups in many states. These organizations have the ability to donate money directly to candidates that best support education and will introduce policies that are most ideal for educators. They also have the ability to donate to specific interests such as a cause in California to direct more money directly to education spending. These organizations will also try to stop policies and interest groups that are promoting interests that could be detrimental to the school system. For example, the teacher’s union may fund an ad to speak negatively of a certain candidate because that candidate is advocating for education funding cuts.

Also, the teacher’s union may seek to have certain people elected to the board of education in their local school district to make sure that those elected are best representing the interests of the school. On the board of education especially, the teacher’s union wants to make sure that whoever is elected to the board will be reflect the interests of the students and the teachers. The last thing the teacher’s union wants to do is allow an official be elected to the school board that will cut funding to programs in school and allow for pink slips to be handed out to teachers. The same goes for elected officials like the governor.

Because funding is such a huge part of education and the public school system, it is especially imperative that the school and teachers stand behind the proper policies and government officials that are going to allow the schools to thrive. Thus, teachers have to take a stand in political campaigns in order to assure that schools will be given the ability to run properly. According to the textbook, the author states “Another workers’ group, schoolteachers, has banded together to form one of the most effective state-level groups. In fact, as Table 5.1 indicates, schoolteachers’ organizations are ranked among the most influential interest groups in thirty-one states” (100). This is an example of how the teacher’s coming together to form an interest group can collectively create a larger collective power that has the ability to influence policy and to make sure that the interest of educators is heard.

 

CH 4 Blog - Citizen Participation and Elections

Although citizens are directly participating in with my community partner at Valley Oak High School, many of them are not yet old enough to vote. In this way, it is their parents and guardians that have the immediate relationship with my community partner. In addition, the high school is working to train the students to learn how to be active citizens in the future and learn how the government works. It is important for my community partner to teach these young individuals why it is important to participate in their democracy by voting because it can make a difference. As for the adults, they have a relationship with my community partner by being able to volunteer with the school. In addition, citizens have some control over how the high school functions by voting in the local school supervisors when they are up for election.

As briefly noted above, citizens have a most basic interaction with my community partner through their ability to vote and elect school supervisors. Citizens have the ability to elect school supervisors that want to continue directing funding at a continuation high school like this one. Citizens also can interact on another level with my community partner by donating supplies, money and other necessities to the high schools that are in need of funding. In the case of Valley Oak High School, the school caters especially to those students that are low-income and are often those received reduced or free-lunches. This means that the school is less likely to have parents who are willing to volunteer their time or donate their money to help improve the school. It is up to other adults in the community to see the needs of these students and help by offering grants and supplies to the teachers and staff to help improve the environment of the school for these students.

After observing at the school today, it came to my attention that there is little funding available to many of the teachers, especially my sister who is trying to start up their first real P.E. program. In a conversation she had with a fellow teacher today, I learned that there are very few grants that are awarded to the teachers that give them the freedom to use the money to purchase the materials that are more needed for the classroom. Instead, the money comes with requirements that do not always address the specific needs of the students. If more citizens gave private donations without strings attached, teachers would be more able to use the money to address the specific needs in their school. Although voters do not necessarily have control over how teachers are able to use money, they at least have the ability to direct more tax dollars towards schools to help improve the situation. For example, Prop 30 which was passed this year in California helped to direct more funding towards schools and teachers. In this way, citizens interact with my community partner.

Although it is much less common, citizens have the ability to interact with my community partner by volunteering and directly helping students. This is a common occurring in regular school, but this is not the case with a continuation high school that caters mostly to low –income students. Most parents of low-income students do not have the time to take off work to volunteer at the school to help with various tasks. If other people volunteer at the school, they can help by assisting students in various subjects. In addition, these students need the extra push to help get them more interested in school and more focused on their future. The extra attention from volunteers can help make a difference in their lives by helping the students better understand their material or get them interested in a career for the future.

The Legacy of Martin Luther King Jr.

When the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was passed as a direct result of the leadership of Dr. King and the Civil Rights movement, the African American community gained more protection and say in the democratic process. The Voting Rights Act that was signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson prevented states from enacting any type of vote qualification laws that could potentially prevent people of race or color from voting. This was important in the southern states especially that would use a literacy test to try and keep African Americans and other minorities from voting. The Voting Rights Act put the federal government in charge of checking the states to make sure that they were not doing anything to prevent all of its citizens from voting.

On the local level, Dr. King’s work for equal rights helped not only to end segregation against African Americans, but it made the African Americans full citizens by making sure they just as much of a say in the democratic process. The literacy tests were one way in which African Americans were turned away from voting because they could not even register to vote in the first place. According to the National Voting Rights Museum and Institute website, the requirement of literacy tests kept many citizens, especially African Americans, from even being able to register to vote. The National Voting Rights Museum and Institute website writes, “These enforcement provisions applied to states and political subdivisions, mostly in the South that had used a ‘device’ to limit voting and in which less than 50 percent of the population was registered to vote in 1964” (nvrmi.com). In addition, violence was often used by white supremacists to also try to turn African Americans away from voting. The enforcement of the Voting Rights Act helped by ensuring the right of all citizens to vote by  checking the local polling placing to make sure that no one was being discriminated against. This all happened more so at the local level because that is where the individuals would cast their vote.

The legacy that Martin Luther King Jr. left in regards to the Voting Rights Act has continued into today. According to the National Voting Rights Museum and Institute, the act has been renewed four separate times. The last renewal and amending happened in 2006 when President Bush extended the law for an additional 25 years. Martin Luther King Jr. effectively worked to ensure that African Americans and other minorities will have a say in the democracy that they live under.

Even though the Voting Rights Act is in full effect today, there is still the overarching fear that African Americans and other minorities will not be afforded their full rights as citizens. For example, some states and local governments are trying to enforce voter identification laws that will require citizens to present their driver’s license or ID card when they vote. Although this seems easy for most, minority groups, especially in low-income areas, are likely to not have a driver’s license because they rely on public transportation. In this way, it could be seen as discrimination against voter registration because some citizens do not already have the ID card. In addition, there is uproar about some churches and other local entities providing transportation to the polling place for people without other means of transportation. Although this is a way to ensure that all citizens have an equal opportunity to cast their vote on election day, many still see it as a way to favor one party over another. These few examples are some among many of ways in which there are still flaws in the Voting Rights Act. No matter how many loop holes that have been tried to be filled, there still seem to be ways in which African Americans and other minorities are being discriminated against at the ballot box.

Federalism and the States

                My community partner is Valley Oak High School in Napa which is a continuation high school. The purpose of this school is to provide an environment in which students who struggle in a regular high school setting can get the attention and help that they need in order to graduate. Many of the students at this school dropped out of a regular high school because of attendance issues, failing classes, disciplinary issues and other unique circumstances. The continuation high school most likely evolved out of local need to help increase graduation rates for the Napa Valley Unified School District. The school is a response to provide a place for struggling students to have as much of an opportunity to graduate as the average student. In particular, I will be working with my sister, Carolyn Knudson, who is starting up the first P.E.  Program at Valley Oak High School this year. Previously, Valley Oak had P.E. teachers who would just roll out a basketball and tell the students to play. There was no structure to the class and many students would refuse to participate. The Napa Valley Unified School District decided that it was best to fill the position that opened for a P.E. teacher that would engage the students in physical education that teaches them the team work and basic fundamentals of sports. In addition, the school also added a component of health to the course to teach healthy habits and important information. The local need stemmed from trying to fill a local need to provide an outlet for these students to exercise, release pent up energy and learn to work with each other.

                The new P.E./health program is restrained by the budget that is allotted to the program. The only full set of equipment that the program has right now is a set of hockey sticks that they cannot even use. Even though schools are directly affected by the local district’s decisions, they must adhere to the testing and other curriculum set forth by the state. In turn, the federal government helps to fund the school districts through grants and funding which have mandates attached to them. The biggest problem facing my CP is the fact that she does not have enough access to funding to make her program effective. In many cases, she must borrow equipment from other schools in the district. The mandates that the federal government creates for education focus on giving funding for success in such areas as math, science and English. For this reason, it is difficult in a lot of cases for P.E. departments to gain access to more funding. There is less emphasis on physical education even though America has a growing obesity epidemic. The biggest obstacle to this is being able to obtain funding because the federal government does not generally give federal funding to P.E. departments. Instead, Carolyn must rely on the state to allocate her local government money for her program. She also has the option to find money from an outside source but this could also prove to be difficult.

                My community partner is accountable to the local government on the most fundamental level. Education is left to the state which is then given to the local government to create a school system that fits the needs of system to the needs of its citizens. In this way, my community partner must adhere to the curriculum created by the local school district and teach her students what is outlined in that. On the next level, my community partner must test her students at the end of each school year with the standardized tests that are created by the state of California. These tests are created to assure that students are as healthy and fit. Finally, it is the federal government that all these scores must be reported to in order to compare each state’s education program to the other states. I am not completely if sure if continuation high schools have to adhere to the same standards as other schools.