School Boards

Read more about the local officials who work with the district superintendent to run their school district
The United States Capitol building as a bookcase filled with red, white, and blue policy books in a Washington DC landscape.
Luca D'Urbino for Education Week
School & District Management Opinion Have Politics Hijacked Education Policy?
School boards should be held more accountable to student learning, says this scholar.
Rick Hess, December 2, 2025
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8 min read
Democrat Jay Jones speaks on stage at an election night watch party for Democrat Abigail Spanberger after Jones was declared the winner of the Virginia attorney general's race Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025, in Richmond, Va.
Democrat Jay Jones speaks on stage after he was declared the winner of the Virginia attorney general's race Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025, in Richmond, Va. As attorney general, Jones could join multistate coalitions of Democratic state attorneys general suing the Trump administration over its education policies.
AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough
States 4 Education-Related Takeaways From This Week's Elections
How results from Tuesday could affect K-12 schools, and the trajectory of Trump's education policies.
Brooke Schultz, November 5, 2025
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5 min read
Illustration of silhouetted businessman and businesswoman shaking hands as a part of a speech bubble is broken down to suggest better communication
iStock/Getty
School & District Management What Helps—and Hurts—Relationships Between School Boards and Superintendents
Clear roles and frequent communication can strengthen relationships between school boards and superintendents.
Evie Blad, September 8, 2025
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3 min read
A Midland ISD employee walks past the front of Legacy High School on Thursday, Aug. 7, 2025, in Midland.
A Midland ISD employee walks past the front of Legacy High School on Thursday, Aug. 7, 2025, in Midland, Texas. The district's board voted to restore a Confederate general's name to two of its schools.
Eli Hartman for The Texas Tribune
Equity & Diversity Another District Restores a Confederate Name to Its Schools
The district dropped Robert E. Lee's name from two buildings in 2020. The Lee name will be back for the 2026-27 year.
Brooke Schultz, August 13, 2025
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5 min read
Houston ISD's appointed school board votes on the "District of Innovation" status during their monthly work session meeting at HISD Central Office on Sept. 7, 2023 in Houston.
Houston's appointed school board takes a vote during a meeting on Sept. 7, 2023 in the district's central office. A number of studies from recent years have answered questions about school boards' makeup, how competitive board elections are, whether conflict is on the rise, and more.
Karen Warren/Houston Chronicle via AP
School & District Management What the Research Says About School Boards: How Much Conflict Really Is There?
Plus, how competitive are board elections? How much do teachers' union endorsements matter?
Caitlynn Peetz Stephens, July 3, 2025
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7 min read
Kimberly Thompson, center, listens as Francis Howell School Board members talk in favor of rescinding all previously passed resolutions, including an anti-racism resolution, during a meeting on July 20, 2023 in O'Fallon, Mo. The Francis Howell School Board on Dec. 21, 2023, voted to drop elective Black history and literature courses at the district's high schools. Researchers found an uptick in conflict in school board meetings since 2020, but determined it was most concentrated in large urban and suburban districts.
Kimberly Thompson, center, listens as the school board of the Francis Howell district speak in favor of rescinding all previously passed resolutions, including an anti-racism resolution, on July 20, 2023, in O'Fallon, Mo. New research confirms an uptick in school board conflict in recent years, which peaked during claims beginning in 2021 that schools were teaching critical race theory.
David Carson/St. Louis Post-Dispatch via AP
School & District Management Are School Board Meetings Really Getting More Heated? What a New Study Says
Researchers analyzed video of 100,000 school board meetings to track conflict in education politics.
Evie Blad, June 30, 2025
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4 min read
A man walks to submit his ballot for the 2021 school board elections at Canyon Lake Senior Center Tuesday morning in Rapid City.
A man walks to submit his ballot for the 2021 school board elections at Canyon Lake Senior Center on June 8, 2021 in Rapid City. New research shows that incumbents in local school board races run for reelection in uncontested races most of the time.
Grace Pritchett/Rapid City Journal via AP
School & District Management Few School Board Races Are Competitive. Here’s Why
Most school board turnover is caused by incumbent members resigning.
Caitlynn Peetz Stephens, June 27, 2025
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3 min read
Eye of the hacker in a keyhole . Spyware, hacking, cybercrime concept. Vector illustration.
DigitalVision Vectors/Getty
Privacy & Security Tech Glitch Could Have Exposed Thousands of School Districts' Confidential Files
The incident shows the challenges school districts and education companies face in protecting sensitive data.
Lauraine Langreo, June 18, 2025
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3 min read
Image of a board room.
Collage by Laura Baker/Education Week (Images: DigitalVision Vectors; E+; iStock/Getty)
States In Deep-Red Florida, Voters Reject Partisan School Board Races
Florida voters rejected a constitutional amendment to make school board races partisan.
Evie Blad, November 6, 2024
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2 min read
Pencil drawing a checkmark in a box. U.S.A. ballot measures voting in elections.
DigitalVision Vectors
States 5 Ways You Didn't Know the Election Will Affect K-12 Schools
Voters will weigh ballot items that affect funding for electric school buses, tax revenue for state education budgets, and more.
Mark Lieberman, October 31, 2024
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8 min read
Law themed still life featuring Themis statue, judge gavel and scale of justice in a law library.
iStock / Getty Images
Law & Courts A School Board Tried to Make Public Comments Civil. It Went Too Far, Court Says
The rules blocked protected speech or were inconsistently applied, judges say.
Mark Walsh, October 9, 2024
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4 min read
Visitors take photographs of the U.S. Supreme Court on June 18, 2024, in Washington.
Visitors take photographs of the U.S. Supreme Court on June 18, 2024, in Washington.
Jose Luis Magana/AP
Law & Courts Two Notable Education Cases the Supreme Court Declined to Take Up This Term
The justices turned away cases on public aid to nonpublic schools and the 2021 controversy over school board protests.
Mark Walsh, October 7, 2024
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4 min read
A wide-angle lens photo shows people sitting in rows of seats in a full school board meeting room. School board members sit behind a long desk that faces the audience.
An overflow crowd attends a Temecula Valley Unified School District board meeting in Temecula, Calif. on July 18, 2023. School board meetings have been a locus of political drama in recent years.
Will Lester/Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG via TNS
School & District Management School Boards Are Struggling. Could a New Research Effort Help?
A new center will explore how school boards function and how they can improve relationships with the public.
Evie Blad, August 16, 2024
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3 min read
A statue of confederate general Stonewall Jackson is removed on July 1, 2020, in Richmond, Va. Shenandoah County, Virginia's school board voted 5-1 early Friday, May 10, 2024, to rename Mountain View High School as Stonewall Jackson High School and Honey Run Elementary as Ashby Lee Elementary four years after the names had been removed.
A statue of confederate general Stonewall Jackson is removed on July 1, 2020, in Richmond, Va. The Shenandoah County, Va. school board voted 5-1 on May 10, 2024, to restore the names of Confederate leaders and soldiers to two schools, four years after the names had been removed.
Steve Helber/AP
Equity & Diversity A School Board Reinstated Confederate School Names. Could It Happen Elsewhere?
Shenandoah County's school board voted in May to reinstate two Confederate names. Researchers wonder if others will, too.
Brooke Schultz, June 6, 2024
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7 min read
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