Between the Law and Your School - Essay Example

This can be explained using four illustrations. First is the issue of the Supremacy Clause, which makes it clear that all laws passed by the Congress succeed the constitution or state law. Most specifically, Article IV of the second clause provides that the Constitution and the U.S laws are the supreme laws of the country, with all the judges in every State being under them. Secondly, Federalism provides that the U.S government is a national entity on its own, rather than a federation of States, and thus states will always be sovereign entities in the Nation’s system.

Federal law also supersedes State laws to meet the terms of preemption. Courts are expected to identify the extent and substance of federal preemption and protect State laws as extensive as possible. In case of any conflict between the two bodies, courts entail preemption of State laws in absence of express preemption. When State and Federal laws contradict, there emerges a state of conflict preemption. During such an occurrence, the federal law often preempts the State law so long as it is a constitutional application of federal authority.

The legal system has evolved over the last twenty years, thus affecting the state of the legal framework. A few illustrations can be used to explain this move, and in this context, the evolutions in education law and rules some thirty years ago and the noticeable effects they have had on public schools in the U.S. In 1954, the Court’s Brown versus The Board of Education banned segregated schools (Stevens, 2001). Some few years later, in Community Schools versus Seattle School District, there was a rule by the Supreme court that public school districts ensure they had a given percentage of learners of ethnic minorities over the white learners, thus reversing the anticipated effects of Brown v Board.

This marks a huge evolution in the regulations affecting public schools. Apart from the two laws, there was the law of “No Child Left Behind” formulated by the Congress and the President. It laid a foundation for specific funding and testing guidelines and totally changed the way in which public schools in America offered education (Alexander & Alexander, 2011). Having addressed the issue of legal framework and its effects on public schools, it is important to address how it differs between private and public schools.

In terms of funding, public schools are financed by the federal, State, or local government. On the other hand, private schools are funded by private sources, meaning that they are not subject to the rules and regulations laid down by the State on finance issues. The requirements in admissions also differ in that, while public schools must admit and educate every child, private schools decide on whom to admit and in which way. All public schools are guided by the same basic set of federal and local education regulations.

The laws generally address the topics of school curriculum, educational program content, funding, and budgets. Given the reason that taxpayers are responsible for the costs incurred by public schools, there is no tuition included in attending. In comparison, private schools follow the government regulations but they are more flexible especially in financial issues. This is based on the fact that they do not finance their operations using tax payers’ money, thus not much limited on the way they use their resources (Stevens, 2001).

Not only does the State provide legal frameworks to govern public schools,