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Democracy for What and for Whom?: The Possibilities and Challenges of K-12 School Boards. EdWorkingPaper No. 25-1277

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Bibliographic Details
Title: Democracy for What and for Whom?: The Possibilities and Challenges of K-12 School Boards. EdWorkingPaper No. 25-1277
Language: English
Authors: James Bridgeforth, Julie Marsh, Akunna Uka, Miguel Casar, Laura Mulfinger, Jacob Alonso, Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University
Source: Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University. 2025.
Availability: Annenberg Institute for School Reform at Brown University. Brown University Box 1985, Providence, RI 02912. Tel: 401-863-7990; Fax: 401-863-1290; e-mail: annenberg@brown.edu; Web site: https://annenberg.brown.edu/
Peer Reviewed: N
Page Count: 48
Publication Date: 2025
Document Type: Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Secondary Education
Descriptors: Boards of Education, Democracy, Opportunities, Barriers, Governance, Attitudes, Social Influences, Political Influences, Board of Education Role, Politics of Education, Elementary Secondary Education
Geographic Terms: California
Abstract: Local school boards have historically played a major role in the functioning and character of US schools, providing fiscal oversight, shaping policy, and creating avenues for community voice, representation, and accountability. As such, school boards have regularly served as critical sites for political struggle and public discourse on a range of issues. Yet growing demands on schools, political extremism, and well-coordinated attacks on public education are testing the capacity, legitimacy, and purpose of these democratic institutions. This qualitative, multiple case study of 10 California school board members examines the everyday realities of local school governance and how these realities speak to the possibilities of democracy in public education. Ultimately, our findings address under-examined questions about the nature of local democracy: for what and for whom? -- democracy in service of maintaining the status quo or challenging it and advancing the needs of marginalized groups often left out of the process.
Abstractor: As Provided
Entry Date: 2026
Accession Number: ED678239
Database: ERIC
Description
Abstract:Local school boards have historically played a major role in the functioning and character of US schools, providing fiscal oversight, shaping policy, and creating avenues for community voice, representation, and accountability. As such, school boards have regularly served as critical sites for political struggle and public discourse on a range of issues. Yet growing demands on schools, political extremism, and well-coordinated attacks on public education are testing the capacity, legitimacy, and purpose of these democratic institutions. This qualitative, multiple case study of 10 California school board members examines the everyday realities of local school governance and how these realities speak to the possibilities of democracy in public education. Ultimately, our findings address under-examined questions about the nature of local democracy: for what and for whom? -- democracy in service of maintaining the status quo or challenging it and advancing the needs of marginalized groups often left out of the process.