EMPTY SEATS
AT POWERFUL TABLES
THE STATE OF SCHOOL BOARDS IN AMERICA
A 2022 Research Report by Ethan Ashley and Carrie Douglass
FEATURED IN
School boards have a problematic past, but a promising future.
America’s school boards exercise considerable influence over public education. Historically, however, they have wielded that power to establish structural inequities. School boards enacted policies to preserve “de facto” segregation rather than embrace integration after the ruling in Brown v. Board. They built school finance systems, school assignment policies, and teacher contracts to privilege whiter and wealthier communities at the explicit expense of Black and brown communities.
To help school boards evolve into institutions oriented toward justice, we must better understand who serves them, their priorities, their challenges, the support they require, and their ideas about systemic racism in their district. To that end, we conducted a large-scale, first-of-its-kind survey of elected school board members from across the country. Our analysis focuses on education leaders of color. A deeper understanding of their perspectives, priorities, experiences, and challenges is critical to recruiting more diverse candidates and ultimately driving school boards to address structural racism in education.
School boards created these structural inequities, and now they must dismantle them. However, across the country most school boards remain, perhaps unintentionally, committed to maintaining the discriminatory status quo. There are two key reasons school boards continue to operate largely as they have for decades. First, members are disproportionately white and do not share identities or experiences with the communities they serve. Second, school board members, even those who are driven to redress educational inequities, typically are not trained or supported for that work.
The good news is that according to our research, only 38 percent of school board members indicate that they plan to run for reelection. This “Great Resignation” offers an opportunity to recruit, train, support, and ultimately retain new, more diverse school board members who are committed to dismantling systemic racism in education.
THE CHALLENGES
We found three key challenges that must be met for school boards to realize their potential as institutions of equity and justice:
School boards are unrepresentative of the communities they serve.
Across a number of dimensions, school board members are less diverse than the communities they serve.
School board leadership is overwhelmingly white.
Members of color voice missing perspectives on equity, addressing systemic racism, and closing achievement gaps.
Bringing a new, often overlooked point of view drives many people of color to run for school board in the first place.
Members of color are more likely than white board members to view systematic racism as an ongoing problem the board must address.
Members of color are more likely to prioritize policies focused on equity, raising student outcomes, and closing achievement gaps.
Members of color have fewer supports and face greater barriers to serving on school boards.
Members of color have lower access to necessary campaign infrastructure and also are more likely to face socioeconomic barriers to continuing to serve on school boards.
Members of color often have insufficient and inequitable access to training and resources to support their work.
SIMPLY PUT, SCHOOL BOARDS CREATED THESE POLICIES, AND ONLY SCHOOL BOARDS CAN CHANGE THEM
SBP FRAMEWORK (The Solution)
To overcome these challenges, we propose a 3-part strategic framework: People, Power, and Professionalism. Undertaken together, these strategies will help school boards evolve to address more effectively the conditions and consequences of systemic racism affecting students, schools, and communities.
PEOPLE
Develop a robust, well-supported education leader pipeline to recruit school board members who are representative of and share experiences with the communities they serve.
POWER
A more representative school board must pursue high-impact policies that offer solutions to discriminatory practices. Additionally, they must also balance providing oversight and support to the district superintendent.
PROFESSIONALIZATION
Provide school board members with high-quality training, support, and resources are necessary to do the work of dismantling the policies and practices that entrench systemic racism in their district and schools.
This is a critical time for school boards to evolve into change agents and dismantle the racist systems and structures they helped to establish and maintain. We have identified a path forward to recruit, train, and retain members for school boards that are diverse and representative of the communities they serve, committed to equity, and supported in doing the work of righting historical and ongoing injustices. We urge districts and communities to invest strategically in school boards to provide the resources and support needed to govern effectively and equitably.
Who We Are
School Board Partners is a nonpartisan, non-profit organization that connects emerging, inspired elected community leaders serving on local school boards with the training, support and mentorship needed to successfully push for anti-racist high-quality school systems.
The mission of School Board Partners is to train, support, and re-elect diverse anti-racist school board members across the country to lead with courage, competence, and impact.
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