Sociology

Over the years, there has been controversy regarding issues in education in most states. The law keeps on being changed so as to accommodate the new changes that are always made to the education policy. Issues like equal access to school programs, school choice, standard-based education and the role of public relation in schools keep coming up (Noll, 1999). This paper will address the mentioned educational issues.

Education issues
The issue of school choice is considered a move for social justice rather than a partisan one (Noll, 1999). Americans believe that in order to get rid of the gaps existing in education, the way forward is to avail the opportunity for all students to attend the schools in which their educational needs are met best. They should also be allowed into the schools that provide them with the educational environment that is in accordance to their choice. School choice provides a wide variety of programs which allow families to make the choice of schools that their children should attend. It does not favour or give preference to the kind of school that is chosen (Noll, 1999).

 Among the approaches include open enrolment which permits states residents to register their children in the public school of their choice irregardless of their residential district. Voucher is another form of school choice which involves the government paying tuition on parents behalf so that the children can attend private schools. This allows a family to send the children to the school that they have chosen. Tuition tax credit is allowed by some states whereby businesses or individuals contribute to education through donating part of their income tax. They have a choice between donating to School Tuition Organizations, public schools or both. Charter schools are just like the public schools but their regulations and rules are more relaxed. On the other hand, magnet schools are also public schools but they usually have specialized purpose like art, technology or science. For students to gain entry to such schools, they must qualify hence they are first tested. The other approach is home schooling which happens when the childs education is directed by the students parents or when such a students is taught at home. All these school choice programs are there so that the parents can have more control over the education of their children. It allows them to give their children what they think is best for them (Noll, 1999).

According to Noll (1999), standards-based education has different implications in transforming schools. Since the 1980s, there have been education reforms in America. Standard-based kind of education involves laying down some academic standards against which the students knowledge and ability is measured. The set standards are then used as a guide to all the other components of the education system. It involves measuring the performance of the students against the concrete standards as opposed to the conventional way of ranking the students or comparing students performance with the others. The standards act as the benchmark against which the Professional development and the curriculum assessments are aligned.  Currently, education standard continue to be observed especially with the enactment of No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB 2001).

Among other issues in education is the internal and external politics of a school district (Noll, 1999). School districts are expected to support and assist schools in the implementation of their various programs. They check schools accountability to performance and other activities, assist schools to improve their capacity so that they can instruct the learners better and also act as a link between the school and the outside world. These roles in a way compete with each other making the district leaders to be under tension. This is usually made worse by the external factors like partnerships with the external materials and service providers. As the two parties struggle to improve their performance they are also caught up between the conventional roles of brokerage, support and authority and the modern ones. Such are the internal and external politics (Noll, 1999).

Public relations play a major role in schools. It puts them into light as far as their operations are concerned. It involves dealing with communication between school and the public. Schools use it to build rapport with the teachers, students, parents, other school stakeholders and the general public. Good public relations give a school a good image and vice versa. Public relations can contribute to schools getting extra external services and favours or lack of them (Noll, 1999).

The media also plays a great role in how schools are viewed by their stakeholders and the public. The media has a tendency of magnifying small bad issues while the good things may go unnoticed (Noll, 1999). Since the students are always mischievous, this makes the media always want to target schools. However, most school administrators ensure that the media is kept out of what is happening to avoid ruining the reputation of their schools (Noll, 1999).

In conclusion, there are very many issues that affect the schools in one way or another. The way forward is for the administrators and other school stakeholders to know how to deal with them and ensure that they provide an environment that is conducive enough for students to achieve what they are supposed to achieve in school.