The traditional position of boards of education is being challenged by Federal programs and laws, private business, urbanization, the civil rights movement, teacher militancy, and student activism. If school boards are to survive as viable institutions, they must make some response and accommodation to these challenges. These accommodations must…

The late 19th and early 20th centuries were the period of rapid urban development fostered by industrialization. This was also the period of system-wide development of city school districts funded by favorable tax bases from industrial property and from a complete cross-section of social strata. The first consolidation of districts began within…