School board members anticipating being sued for damages are advised to "keep cool, collected, quiet and inconspicuous." Publicly, a school board facing suit should employ an attorney for procedural matters, and announce intentions to fully investigate the problem. Privately, school board members must avoid making any statements that reflect bias,…

The literature on collective bargaining in public education typically argues whether such bargaining is good public policy or bad, sound or unsound, and so forth. No studies to date have measured the actual impact of differing kinds of collective bargaining legislation on local school boards' decisionmaking powers. This study examined whether two…

Since 1992, Maine has received National Science Foundation Statewide Systemic Initiative (SSI) program monies. SSI is a model for improvement of mathematics and science education based on systemic reform. The SSI initiative in Maine has created seven "Beacon School" sites that vary in size and location including high poverty areas, urban…

The primary mission of Florida's community colleges is to respond to community needs for postsecondary academic and degree career education. Local community college boards of trustees are charged with setting policies to accomplish this mission. It is important that local boards of trustees, rather than outside state agencies, maintain control of…

It is the policy of the Washington State Board for Community College Education that the responsibility for resolving local disputes should rest with the college board of trustees and that the State Board should monitor, but not directly participate in the process of dispute resolution. However, state legislation has empowered the State Board with…

This paper contains two sections, each with a different author, that address the need to increase the effective role of school boards in public school governance. Section 1, by David K. Wiles, argues that most school boards are becoming increasingly irrelevant in educational policymaking and offers a radical alternative to the present arrangement…

Members of local boards of education should expect to spend around twenty hours a month on normal board activities, including about nine hours in meetings, four hours preparing for meetings, four hours in reflective thinking, and three hours dealing directly with schools and school patrons. Among topics that must be addressed carefully and…

Strong school board-administrator relations are based on a clear understanding of the superintendent's responsibilities and regular, periodic evaluation. Few school boards have a formal method for evaluating superintendents, though many boards agree that evaluation is important for administrative accountability. A written set of evaluation goals…

The role of the school board attorney is directly related to the role of the school administrator. Administrators must learn to use attorneys as sources of expertise and must continually have them on call to assure that problems are handled in a legally sound manner. It should be kept in mind, however, that attorneys are trained in the law and not…

This historiographical case study of the Scottsdale School District in Arizona examined the degree to which school governance was democratic and tested the proposition that policy change at the district level occurs in response to community demands as evidenced by policymakers' Chapter 2 addresses three categories of administrative discipline…

This study examined the interactions between a school board and school district leadership and the community it served. The case study focused on the choices made by the board and central administration when conferring with the community. The study examined a southern Ohio school district with approximately 5,700 students enrolled in K-12. It…

Findings of a study that determined the response of local school boards in three states to the 1990 National Education Goals are presented. Data were gathered through a survey that was mailed to 718 school board members of public elementary and secondary school districts in Louisiana, Minnesota, and Nebraska. A total of 298 usable responses were…

A study was conducted to assess the expectations and sources of conflict and frustration for school board members in Washington, Missouri, and New Jersey. It tested the widely held belief that school board members are experiencing increased conflict and frustration and explored how these pressures are related to the conflicting expectations on…

This paper attempts to examine the school board's role in superintendent evaluation. It begins by quoting several articles on the subject of superintendent evaluation and the superintendent-board relationship. The author recommends four simple questions to ask when formulating and completing an evaluation procedure: What do we want the…

Decision-making in general and policy decisions in particular are the prime responsibility of school boards because policies are control mechanisms by which trustees assert local control. Policy decisions differ from others in their concern with values and purposes and the legitimization of the organization to society at large. Additionally, they…