In "Navigating School Board Politics," Carrie R. Sampson examines the political power of the US education system's publicly elected school boards, the reality of how they apply that power, and the resounding impact of their governance. The work makes the case that school boards, as both the direct link between local communities and…

This collection of reflections serves as a companion to the California Collaborative's report, "Keeping the Main Thing the Main Thing: Lessons About Effective School Board Governance From Napa Valley and San José Unified School Districts." The report describes the experiences, practices, and learnings from two school boards in California…

The number of students manifesting learning, behavior, and emotional problems far outstrips the ways schools deal with these matters. As school board members and administrators know, existing programs, services, and special initiatives tend to be fragmented and often engender fights over turf and counterproductive competition for sparse resources.…

While U.S. voters delivered a significant change in the 2024 federal elections, they opted for steady leadership at the state level. No state board of education shifted in partisan control, and only five seats saw a shift in political party out of 27 races that were contested in the general election. This policy update looks at the results of…

The purpose of this article is to examine the critical components to successfully serving on a school board or leadership roles, as a member of the Latino(a) community. According to a 2010 national school board survey, only 3% of the 900 board respondents identified as Latino(a) compared with almost 80% who identified as White. The first author…

Amy Yarborough, a veteran teacher and curriculum resource leader in a rural district in Virginia, facilitates a professional learning community focused on social justice and equity-oriented instructional practices. When allegations of teaching critical race theory are reported via the state's email tip line and community social media groups, Amy…

School systems throughout the world are struggling with the issue of who will lead public schools today, and in the future. The patriarchal model from the past, when authority was not to be questioned and educational leadership was viewed in a straightforward, one-dimensional perspective, has been replaced by a complicated combination of…

The many pressures facing school districts -- academic and social-emotional recovery from the pandemic, educator shortages, fragmented funding streams and programs, and more -- can easily overwhelm educators and distract from the core work of instruction and student learning. Locally elected school boards, the governing bodies responsible for…

In post-Hurricane Katrina New Orleans, control of the public schools was wrested from the seven-member Orleans Parish School Board (OPSB). Unheard-of academic gains followed the city's switch to a near-universal charter-school system, yet returning to failure always felt as close as the next hurricane. Give OPSB power again, people said, and the…

This article describes a collaboration between an urban school board and a faculty of education aimed at supporting Indigenous youth transitions to post-secondary education. Drawing upon strengths-based approaches including wise practices, we offer a model for how postsecondary transition events can illuminate pathways for young people to see that…

Through the lens of the school board, this essay examines school governance dynamics as a southern, historically white public school district struggled to implement school desegregation. In 1976, the city of Waco simultaneously elected its school district's first trustees of Color, Dr. Emma Louise Harrison and Rev. Robert Lewis Gilbert. Harrison…

The Department of Defense is the only government entity serving more meals daily than New York City public schools, which operates a meal program with a rich history of both progress and regress. This story of New York City school meals is one that shows both local action and inputs of the federal government. A landmark policy change in 2017…

Voter turnout for school board elections is historically low, with tiny percentages deciding who governs schools. Columnist Jonathan E. Collins proposes a new federal holiday, School Board Election Day, to increase voter turnout and public involvement and interest in public schools. School board elections would be held on the same day nationally,…

The author presents a summary of the changing role of the traditional superintendent within the United States through the lens of how this work can be challenged or encouraged by the relationship with her or his respective board. The author emphasizes how the evolving roles of both the superintendent and school board member have contributed to the…

Over the last decade the governance of primary and secondary schools in the Netherlands has by no means become simpler. This paper sketches recent policy developments and their consequences for the leadership of Boards of Multiple Schools (BMSs) and their school leaders. Thereof we describe the challenges BMSs in the Netherlands currently face to…