School Law Bulletin #1998/05

Ever since the first wave of state-initiated educational reforms began to be felt in the early 1980s, state responsibility for education has increasingly impinged on the local control of schools. State legislatures from across the country have been building upon their traditional roles of regulating and funding education by adopting policies that raise standards, promote accountability, and decentralize decision making to schools. The local school board, caught between implementing the state reforms and meeting community expectations, finds itself having to carry out an increasingly complex set of duties. In states such as North Carolina, where school boards are witnessing changes in their roles, the scope of the governance powers of local boards is gradually being redefined.