School Boards, Local Democracy, and the Pursuit of Educational Justice

Session Type: Invited Speaker Session

Abstract

Local school boards have long played a significant role in the character and function of K-12 schooling – by establishing district policies, providing fiscal oversight, and serving as spaces for community voice and representation. They have also regularly served as sites for political struggle, at times perpetuating inequity, and at others challenging it. This presidential session brings together a multidisciplinary, multigenerational, multiracial, and geographically diverse panel of education scholars, some of whom have served as school board members, who are deeply engaged in research and practice of democracy and justice-oriented leadership. Through structured discussion, participants will examine the historical role of school boards and the opportunities that exist to build more inclusive, justice-oriented spaces that foster local democracy.

Sub Unit

• AERA Presidential Session

Chair

• Julie A. Marsh, University of Southern California

Participants

• James C. Bridgeforth, University of Delaware

• Terah T. Venzant Chambers, Michigan State University

• Julie A. Marsh, University of Southern California

• Briana Mullen, Education Justice Academy

• Rachel M. Perera, The Brookings Institution

• Elizabeth Todd-Breland, University of Illinois at Chicago

Discussant

• Carrie Sampson, Arizona State University