School Board Decision Making: The Impact of State Polices

• In Event: AERA Roundtable Session Thursday 4:15 pm - Gold 1
  In Roundtable Session: Policy Analysis Across Contexts

Abstract

Purpose: This article explores the influence of school board members’ ability to represent all students in the face of state political priorities.
Design: A descriptive analysis of five states characterized as either conservative, liberal, or moderate are used as examples to demonstrate the impact state educational legislation has over district educational policies Also considered in this analysis is the political entanglement of superintendents serving in strongly controlled state educational legislative environments.
Findings: Superintendents inevitably become the only intermediary left with any power. A superintendent’s opposition to state educational policies creates great risks to the health of the school district and risks the sustainability of a superintendent’s career.

Author

• Meredith L. Mountford, Florida Atlantic University