Lesson
Materials (word document)
AIM:
Does New York State adequately provide for the education of its youth?
LESSON
DESCRIPTION
This lesson is the second of three lessons in a small Social Studies
unit on the Campaign for Fiscal Equity [CFE] lawsuit. The unit was
formulated with the New York State curriculum in mind, to be used
in an 11th grade class in U.S. History and Government, a 12th grade
class Participation in Government class or an Advanced Placement US
Government and Politics class. It is particularly suited for the study
of state government.
The focus of this
second lesson is how New York State provides for education for its
youth. The lesson examines the division of governmental responsibility
for providing education laid out in the U.S. Constitution, noting
that primary power over and responsibility for education is reserved
to the state governments. It considers how, notwithstanding that constitutional
arrangement, the national government has played an increasing role
in education since World War II, and has students inquire into whether
the interests of educational equity should lead to an even greater
role for Washington DC. The lesson then discusses what state governments
must do to deliver education, and how the organization of government
in New York State impacts on the delivery of education by the state
and local governments. The lesson concludes with an investigation
of how the sharing of governmental responsibility for education between
the state and local governments in New York has contributed to inequities
in education across the state.
The lesson plan
was written in the format of a developmental lesson, with parallel
columns of contents, the concepts and information students should
be learning, and questions, which the teacher should employ to initiate
student discussion and induce higher order student thought. Those
questions could just as easily be used as a basis for leading a seminar
discussion of the topic. The lesson plan contains two full days of
material, so it should be edited down if the teacher wishes to teach
it in one day.
STANDARDS
ADDRESSED
Standard 1: History of the United States and New York [Commencement
Level]
1. Students will describe the evolution of American democratic values
and beliefs as expressed in the Declaration of Independence, the New
York State Constitution, the United States Constitution, the Bill
of Rights, and other important historical documents.
Standard 5:
Civics, Citizenship and Government: [Commencement Level]
2. Students will trace the evolution of American values, beliefs,
and institutions; analyze the disparities between civic values expressed
in the United States Constitution and the United Nation Universal
Declaration of Human Rights and the realities as evidenced in the
political, social, and economic life in the United States and throughout
the world; identify, respect, and model those core civic values inherent
in our founding documents that have been forces for unity in American
society; compare and contrast the Constitutions of the United States
and New York State; and understand the dynamic relationship between
federalism and state’s rights.
3. Students will
analyze issues at the local, state, and national levels and prescribe
responses that promote the public interest or general welfare, such
as planning and carrying out a voter registration campaign.
4. Students will
evaluate, take, and defend positions on what the fundamental values
and principles of American political life are and their importance
to the maintenance of constitutional democracy; take, defend, and
evaluate positions about attitudes that facilitate thoughtful and
effective participation in public affairs; participate in school/classroom/community
activities that focus on an issue or problem; prepare a plan of action
that defines an issue or problem, suggests alternative solutions or
courses of action, evaluates the consequences for each alternative
solution or course of action, prioritizes the solutions based on established
criteria, and proposes an action plan to address the issue or to resolve
the problem; and explain how democratic principles have been used
in resolving an issue or problem.
AIM
Does New York State adequately provide for the education of its youth?
Instructional
Objectives:
Students will be able to:
- describe the
structure and functioning of government in New York State, identifying
the separate branches and the different levels of government;
- explain why
a state government would divide and share powers between the central
government and the local government;
- define the
doctrine of ‘reserved powers’ in the Tenth Amendment
to the US Constitution, and explain why it accords primary responsibility
for education to state governments;
- explain why
the national government has come to intervene more and more in the
field of education since WW II, notwithstanding the constitutional
arrangement, and offer a reasoned opinion on whether or not this
is a positive development;
- identify the
four primary functions of government provision of education;
- explain how
the four primary functions of government provision of education
are shared by the central state government and local governments
in New York;
- explain how
the sharing of governmental responsibility for education in New
York State results in an unequal funding of — and thus, unequal
quality — of public schools across the state;
- take and defend
a position on the best way to meet governmental responsibility to
provide for universal, free public schools and to fund public education.
Motivation
Suppose that your mother wants the kitchen cleaned up. Is the kitchen
more likely to be fully cleaned if she just tells both of you to do
it, or just one of you? Why? If she tells both of you to do it, would
it be more fully done if she gives each of you specific jobs [i.e.,
you are to mop the floor, your sister is to clean all of the dirty
dishes], or if she just tells both of you to do what you have to do?
Why?
To
Lesson 3
|
Subject
Areas:
Social Studies
Grade Levels: 9-12
About
the teacher:
Leo
Casey is currently Special Representative for High Schools
at the United Federation of Teachers. Prior to his work at the UFT,
he spent 14 years teaching Social Studies at Clara Barton High School
in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn, NY. During his teaching
stint, his classes of inner city students regularly won New York City
and New York State championships, and placed as high as fourth in
the nation, in the national "We The People: The Citizen and the
Constitution" competition. He has received several awards for
his teaching, including being named the Social Studies Teacher of
the Year in 1992 by the American Teacher Awards. He holds a Ph.D.
in political science from the University of Toronto, and is the author
of several published articles on politics and education.
leoecasey@optonline.net
|