Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Discussion

Topic: Governments, Citizens, and Public Policy: An Introduction

“And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.”
–John F. Kennedy

Public policy is how government, at the federal, state, and local levels address public concerns. Public policy can be understood through the following characteristics:

• Public policy responds to a perceived concern. The following concerns could be political, social, economic, environmental, etc.
• Public policy solutions are mostly addressed through legislation or regulation.
• Public policy is made at the behest of the people.
• Public policy is typically an ongoing process.

Public policy has been and continues to be strongly influenced by citizens – either as individuals and/or as groups. Citizens can affect public policy through many outlets:

• Citizens can vote for individuals who advocate a particular public policy concern.
• Citizens can mobilize, petition, attend town halls, and request attention from their representatives via phone calls, emails, social media, and visits to local, state, and federal assemblies.
• Citizens can also join or fund interest groups who advocate a particular policy concern.

One historical example of a government response to a public policy concern was the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire. On March 25th, 1911, New York experienced the deadliest, workplace disaster it had suffered to that point. On the upper floors of a high-rise building, unreachable by the fire department, a garment factory caught on fire. With only one, badly built fire escape, and the employees locked inside the building because the owners wanted to protect against theft, 146 people, mostly immigrant women, died while trying to flee the conflagration. The public outcry over what was a senseless tragedy reignited labor and immigrant movements, resulted in the formation of the Bureau of Fire Protection, and would eventually lead to federal workplace safety and injury compensation laws (Von Drehle, 2004).

More information about the lessons learned from the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire can be found from the New York Committee for Occupational Safety and Health.

Directions: Using the required, academic readings, and supplemental academic research, please address the following while adhering to the Discussion Board Rubric:

• Select a specific example of public policy from one of the following fields:
  • Economic policy
    • An example of economic policy is U.S. budget deficit spending.
  • Education policy
    • An example of education policy is the implementation of national education standards.
  • Environmental policy
    • An example of environmental policy is the Clean Air Act.
  • Foreign policy
    • An example of foreign policy is how we conduct trade with other countries.
  • Healthcare policy
    • An example of healthcare policy is the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare)
  • Welfare policy
    • An example of welfare policy is Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF).
• Explain this, specific public policy.
  • Is this specific public policy a federal, state, or local public policy?
  • Why does this public policy interest you?
  • Why is this public policy important to you?
  • How did voter engagement affect this public policy?
  • How effective is this public policy?

Reference:

Drehle, D. V. (2003). Triangle: The fire that changed America. Bridgewater, NJ: Distributed by Paw Prints/Baker & Taylor.

Unit 1 Discussion

Shelby Koehler posted Oct 15, 2020 8:50 PM

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Hello class,

I have decided to discuss an education policy, specifically the Iowa Core Standards.

• Is this specific public policy a federal, state, or local public policy?

This specific public policy is a state policy

• Why does this public policy interest you?

This public policy interests me because I was in the Iowa public school for 13 years. I’m interested in how and why this policy is implemented and how it affects students, teachers/educators, and how it has changed the Iowa public school system as a whole. I am also interested in knowing if these core standards affected Iowa standardized testing scores and how the state ranked nationally against other states.

• Why is this public policy important to you?

This public policy is important to me because I was in the Iowa public school system from pre-k all the way through high school. I personally had to meet these standards set by the state legislature and had to make sure I met all “core requirements” in high school. I think having these core standards is important because it is a way for the state to “keep track” of the education students are receiving and it describes what Iowa students should know and be able to from kindergarten through high school graduation (Iowa Core, N.D).

• How did voter engagement affect this public policy?

Since first starting in 2005, there have been many revisions of the Iowa Core Standards. All of these revisions had to be presented to the school boards and passed by the state legislature. In 2008, the state governor signed a revision that required a full implementation of the Core Standards to all public and accredited nonpublic schools (Iowa Core, N.D.).

• How effective is this public policy?

The Iowa Core Standards can be considered to be very effective. When compared to the more commonly known “Common Core” there is a lot of common ground and very few differences in the Iowa Core Standards (Iowa Core, N.D.). The Iowa Core standards have implemented and developed resources to support teachers who could then further support students. Iowa Core (N.D). states that the Iowa Core Standards have a variety of characteristics that promote “effective instruction”.

References

Iowa Core. (N.D.). About Iowa Core. Retrieved from https://iowacore.gov/about-iowa-core

Unit 1 discussion

Mason Cowan posted Oct 14, 2020 10:39 PM

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• Is this specific public policy a federal, state, or local public policy?

I have chosen to discuss the No Child Left Behind Act which is a federal education-based policy.

• Why does this public policy interest you?

This policy is interesting to me because it almost completely changed how our schoolteachers teach the youth of our country. This policy also changed the standards we hold students to and how we assess and evaluate learning. Many people disagree and many also agree with this polarizing policy, so it is interesting to understand it deeper.

• Why is this public policy important to you?

This policy is important to me because I have a two-year-old daughter, and a wife that teaches second grade. This policy is currently effecting the way my wife is forced to teach, and soon it will affect the way my child is forced to learn.

• How did voter engagement affect this public policy?

Many voters did not agree with this policy, but it was still approved by 92% of the Senate. Only 8 Senators voted “nay.”

• How effective is this public policy?

An interesting fact I read about the effectiveness of this policy is that 1 in 5 teachers typically leave their chosen profession within 3 years this leads me to believe that the NCLB act has de-incentivized teachers to want to do their job. The policy is, however, effective regarding analyzing trends in how students learn. It has also been able to quantify how much students has learned through standardized testing.