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School Board Leadership and Policymaking in Changing Political Environments

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Abstract

As the demographic make-up of public schools (and neighborhoods) shift and schools become increasingly segregated, the role of school boards becomes critically important in maintaining policies designed to remedy segregation and promote equal opportunity, policies which may challenge the status quo. Specifically, in school districts and communities where politics are fluctuating, longstanding diversity policies that have assisted in creating integrated learning environments can be overturned by a single school board election. Further, as suburbanization within countywide school districts creates distinct enclaves—where student populations are significantly whiter and more affluent than the district as a whole and political fragmentation is perpetuated—school board members representing elite enclaves may be less supportive of policies that would lessen the privilege of these residents. This paper explores school board leadership and policymaking in two Southern school districts where politics are currently in flux: Jefferson County (Louisville), Kentucky and Wake County (Raleigh), North Carolina. Specifically, we seek to: (1) understand how demographic change—particularly the creation of suburban enclaves—influences public support for and implementation of integration policies; (2) examine the politics of diversity in a larger environment skeptical of race-conscious policies; and (3) analyze local policymaking and leadership.

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Notes

  1. In December 2011, the Obama Administration rescinded this letter and issued comprehensive guidance regarding the ways in which school districts could use race to pursue diversity or avoid racial isolation.

  2. In 2006, the two towns were Apex and Holly Springs; each town was nearly 80 % White in 2010, which was considerably higher than the entire county population (66 % White). By 2008, mayors in Cary (73 % White), Garner (58 % White), and Rolesville (74 % White) joined the other two mayors in calling for at-large elections. However, mayors in Wake Forest (77 % White), Zebulon (47 % White), Morrisville (54 % White) and Wendell (58 % White) preferred to keep the existing system (“At large school board seats divide Wake leaders”, 2008).

  3. The first author was part of the team evaluating the student assignment policy.

  4. Roberts’ plurality decision was itself skeptical of the benefits of diverse schools.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Education Policy Studies, College of Education, The Pennsylvania State University, 207B Rackley, University Park, PA, 16802, USA

    Erica Frankenberg

  2. Department of Educational Leadership & Policy Analysis, University of Missouri, Columbia, MO, USA

    Sarah Diem

Authors
  1. Erica Frankenberg
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  2. Sarah Diem
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Correspondence to Erica Frankenberg.

Additional information

We appreciate the research assistance of Tiffanie Lewis and Urme Ali. This paper evolved out of another project on the politics of race-neutral student assignment plans in urban school districts that is under review with Kathryn McDermott.

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Frankenberg, E., Diem, S. School Board Leadership and Policymaking in Changing Political Environments. Urban Rev 45, 117–142 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11256-012-0211-8

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