Oct 13, 2026 · 46 min · 10 segments
In this episode, Kristi and Christina bring the podcast series on the midterms home, focusing on how state government impacts public education and what you can do to make your vote count during this…
Christina GagnierHostKristi HirstHostIf you wanna understand public education in the United States, you really need to understand state government because they play a enormous role in education, um, in addition to your localized government.
So the first thing that happens at the state level is they establish the funding formulas for your schools.
Some states, like California, will fund you based on how many students are in their chairs.
Another thing that plays a role in the funding of your local schools are property taxes.
The percent of the property taxes that goes to your public schools, how property taxes are charged in your areas.
Some communities will, um, put an extra tax on your properties to help fund schools.
But those two things are generally decided at the state level and obviously greatly impact what your school has to operate with.
Another thing is establishing teacher licensing requirements, and I'll talk about this one since I have one or many teacher licenses.
They decide the requirements you have to have to teach in a classroom to be deemed qualified.
So what classes-- some classes they require you to take when you're in college, uh, credentialing requirements.
All of those things, backgrounds, all of those things are established by your state level government.
And when teachers move, they might have to do different things to be able to teach in that new state.
They also establish graduation requirements, so what your students have to do and have to achieve to get out of public schools.
This has become a subject of great debate in different states across the country of what actual coursework and other things have to be accomplished before, uh, your kids are able to, to walk across that stage.
They also determine testing, another hot button issue, and accountability policies, so they're setting the standards for statewide testing.
Uh, many states have a test that every single student has to take once a year.
They also regulate charter schools and other educational programs, uh, another hot button topic.
If you wanna understand public education in the United States, you really need to understand state government because they play a enormous role in education, um, in addition to your localized government.
So the first thing that happens at the state level is they establish the funding formulas for your schools.
Some states, like California, will fund you based on how many students are in their chairs.
Another thing that plays a role in the funding of your local schools are property taxes.
The percent of the property taxes that goes to your public schools, how property taxes are charged in your areas.
Some communities will, um, put an extra tax on your properties to help fund schools.
But those two things are generally decided at the state level and obviously greatly impact what your school has to operate with.
Another thing is establishing teacher licensing requirements, and I'll talk about this one since I have one or many teacher licenses.
They decide the requirements you have to have to teach in a classroom to be deemed qualified.
So what classes-- some classes they require you to take when you're in college, uh, credentialing requirements.
All of those things, backgrounds, all of those things are established by your state level government.
And when teachers move, they might have to do different things to be able to teach in that new state.
They also establish graduation requirements, so what your students have to do and have to achieve to get out of public schools.
This has become a subject of great debate in different states across the country of what actual coursework and other things have to be accomplished before, uh, your kids are able to, to walk across that stage.
They also determine testing, another hot button issue, and accountability policies, so they're setting the standards for statewide testing.
Uh, many states have a test that every single student has to take once a year.
They also regulate charter schools and other educational programs, uh, another hot button topic.
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