ABSTRACT
Third, education is shaped by the broader pluralist system of policymaking, where organized interests and citizenry play a legitimate role. Competing interests enjoy multiple, informal access from agenda setting through the legislative and budgetary phase. Third-party influence, such as media, can further articulate community concerns. Not surprisingly, conflicts over educational issues arise frequently. Educational policies are formulated as efforts to mediate competing views and contending interests. An increasingly vocal taxpaying public pays attention to how schools dollars are spent, for example, when a substantial portion of families no longer has children in the public schools. Further, the aging population may consider public education in competition with transportation, public safety, community development, and health care for budgetary allocation. During the 1990s, business-organized lobbying groups were successful in pushing for higher academic standards and stronger accountability measures. In districts with a large percentage of failing public schools, new political coalitions have emerged to seek for alternative ways of delivering schooling services, including charter schools and contracts with private management firms (Hill et al. 2000).
