Authority Grab Eroding Stature of State Boards

The power of state school boards nationwide is gradually being eroded as lawmakers and governors seek to expand their authority over K-12 education and, in some cases, reverse education policy set in motion by elected or appointed boards.

This year alone, state boards in Florida, Ohio, and Vermont are targets of legislation that would either eliminate them outright or reduce their authority, while the governor in Idaho is considering ways to seize greater control over the panel in his state.

And members of those boards may have good reason to worry. In Minnesota, the legislature abolished the state board of education in 1998. New Mexico did essentially the same thing in 2003, when the board was stripped of its authority and...