American K–12 education operates at a significant disadvantage. It is burdened by a century- old, one-size-fits-all governance model that prioritizes adult rather than student interests. Owing to interest-group capture, the traditional model of local democratic control—an elected school board, an appointed superintendent, and a central office bureaucracy—is often unresponsive to families and unaccountable to the public for results. What can be done? Since the publication of A Nation at Risk, reformers have variously turned to site-based management, state takeovers, and mayoral control to try to weaken the local district and board monopoly. While each of these approaches has improved student outcomes in some systems, none has been a silver bullet. So, rather than seeking to find a single “one best” system, state and local policymakers should focus on identifying a bifurcated strategy to move governance in a direction more focused on student outcomes.
This story was produced by The 74, a non-profit, independent news organization focused on education in America.
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