Education Policy, Performance, and Democratic Accountability

• In Event: Schooling and Democratic Citizenship

Abstract

Chief state school officers lead state education agencies (SEAs) and are responsible for overseeing implementation of state and federal education policy. Today, although every state has an SEA, chiefs assume their offices through various means, including by popular elections in 14 states. By studying these elections from 1986 to 2010, this paper addresses the following research question: Is voting behavior in elections for state education chief associated with the quality of policy and with student outcomes? The specific behavior we consider is voter turnout. Although the literature on voter turnout shows that down-ballot races typically are low-turnout affairs, the heightened attention to schooling via expanded testing and publication of accountability report cards has provided voters with much information to judge state education performance. By considering whether these elections are sensitive to state policy quality and outcomes, while controlling for other key factors, the analysis brings evidence to the debate about whether voters are capable of holding accountable their leaders who occupy relatively low- profile elected offices.

Author

• Paul Manna, College of William & Mary