Measure Allowing Elected School Boards Passes in Virginia

By Daniel Gursky

After more than a decade of trying, Virginia lawmakers have finally approved legislation giving state voters the right to elect school-beard members.

Under a bill that cleared the legislature last week and is expected to be signed by Gov. L. Douglas Wilder, school-beard elections could be held as soon as 1994, ending Virginia's status as the only state in which all school-beard members are appointed by other local officials.

School-board-election measures have been introduced each year since the mid-1970's, only to die in committees or on the floor of one...