This booklet is intended to encourage and aid local school boards in undertaking training programs that will enable them to function more effectively. Relying heavily on case studies of school boards in Chicago and Minneapolis, the author focuses on two major problems facing school board members today--the phenomenon of increasing bureaucratization and the challenge of desegregation. Chapter 1 discusses the nature of school boards and the challenges facing them today. Chapter 2 focuses on the experiences of school board members in Chicago and Minneapolis. Chapter 3 comments on the practices of school boards in general and the Chicago and Minneapolis boards in particular. Chapter 4 presents the author's conclusions about the selection and training of school board members and offers specific suggestions for training board members to meet the demands of their position. (JG)