How might U.S. public schools be different if, like France, the United States had a unitary system of government?

Question

American Government

Answer 1

Great question LaToya.

To answer this I think you must first juxtapose the differences in power distribution between unitary forms of government and federalism. With a unitary government, the governmental power rests largely with the national government and very little is left to the states. Under federalism the authority is split more evenly between the national and state governments. While it's not distributed 50/50 the ratio is far more balanced than it is under unitary or confederal structures. Federalism is the governmental structure used by the US. Now that the difference between government systems is sorted l suggest we consider how our education currently works.

In systems of federalism there are things that are absolutely assigned to the national governments and specifically denied to state governments as designated in a nation's founding documents. In our nation the reserved powers clause of the US Constitution says that anything not assigned to the government or specifically denied to the states reverts to state governments. It is literally the legal basis for state's rights in the United States. This formalized split plays out repeatedly in all facets of our government and education is no exception.

Currently, under federalism, there are national educational minimums that must be met but after that states are able to make policies that fit their needs and desires as long as they do not contradict the national directives. If we were to adopt a unitary system, the largest impact I foresee would be a shifting from setting national minimums and giving states significant oversight to very detailed sets of national expectations giving states only a very minor say in how this plays out locally.

Here are just a few conflicts that could potentially arise from that.

1. School start/end dates might become nationalized. This could potentially be problematic for states who shift from the standard calendar due to weather or economic reasons. This could potentially impact states in the far north or south with extreme temperatures or rural communities that plan their calendars around harvests.
2. Many areas have social and religious beliefs that local schools cater to. If the ability for states to cater to local cultural expectations on hot button issues such as abortion and the big bang theory etc disappears there could be a shift away from public education to private schools or home schooling.
3. Most students take a social studies class in middle school that is their state's history. Growing up in Oklahoma I took Oklahoma History. This could potentially be replaced with a course that goes state by state and hits just the highlights reel for each state causing students to experience a lack of connection with their local history.
4. A means for nationalized indoctrination. If all schools in all states are required to follow one very detailed plan, think about how easy it would be to change or create a collective consciousness.

There are just a few possibilities. With these in mind are there any more you can think of?