In Atlanta and Denver, the Focus Is on School Board Races

By Jessica L. Sandham

Four years ago, Atlanta voters ousted the majority of a combative, often ineffective school board that many viewed as an embarrassment to the city.

When the city's voters return to the polls next week, they will decide whether some of the replacements have done enough to improve the struggling, 60,000-student district. Among the prominent issues are stagnant test scores and a continuing flow of middle-class students and families to the suburbs.

The race in Atlanta is just one of several heated local school board elections taking place around the...