| accountability | The obligation of schools and teachers to be held responsible for student performance.
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| adequate education | A legal approach that ensures educational opportunities for poorer students based on state constitution guarantees for an efficient, thorough, or uniform education. Calls for adequate education have replaced previous calls for equal educational expenditures.
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| block grants | Federal dollars provided to the states, with limited federal restrictions, for educational aid and program funding.
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| bond | A certificate of debt issued by a government guaranteeing payment of the original investment plus interest by a specified future date. Bonds are used by local communities to raise the funds they need to build or repair schools.
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| categorical grants | Financial aid to local school districts from state or federal agencies for specific purposes.
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| chief state school officer | The executive head of a state department of education. The chief state school officer is responsible for carrying out the mandates of the state board of education and enforcing educational laws and regulations. This position is also referred to as state superintendent.
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| collaborative decision making | An effort to empower teachers in which teachers share power with the school principal and actively participate in curricular, budgetary, and other school policy decisions.
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| consolidation | The trend toward combining small or rural school districts into larger ones.
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| decentralization | The trend of dividing large school districts into smaller and, it is hoped, more responsive units.
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| educational partnership | A business relationship between schools and corporations through which companies offer schools services and products and often have their corporate names used in the schools.
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| hidden government | The unofficial power structure within a school. It cannot be identified by the official title, position, or functions of individuals. For example, it reflects the potential influence of a school secretary or custodian.
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| property tax | Local real estate taxes (also cars and personal property) historically used to fund local schools.
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| Robin Hood reformers | Attempted to equalize school funding by moving money from wealthy school districts to poorer ones.
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| school boards | Elected or appointed officials who determine educational policies for school systems.
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| site-based (school-based) management | A school governance method that shifts decision making from the central district office to individual schools. See also school-based management.
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| state board of education | The state education agency that regulates policies necessary to implement legislative acts related to education.
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| state department of education | An agency that operates under the direction of the state board of education, accrediting schools, certifying teachers, appropriating state school funds, and so on.
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| Tenth Amendment | The constitutional Amendment that establishes that areas not specifically mentioned in the Constitution as federal responsibilities are left to state authority. Since education is not mentioned, each state is free to create its own school system.
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