Why School Boards Matter: Reclaiming the Heart of American Education and Democracy

How school boards are uniquely positioned to strengthen our public education system and our democracy.

In Virginia, a contentious school board meeting led to an arrest and trespassing summons. In Utah, eleven people were charged with disorderly conduct after a board meeting turned chaotic. Not long ago, school boards conducted mundane district business. Understudied and underreported, they were an afterthought of centrally driven education reform efforts. Now, across blue, purple, and red states, school boards have become the epicenter of heated debates, reflecting society’s deep divisions. In Why School Boards Matter, Scott Levy challenges conventional wisdom by reminding us of the essential role school boards play.

While battles in the boardroom may be uncomfortable, they exemplify how passionate Americans are about education. As policymakers debate the federal government’s role in K-12 and states pursue sharply divergent policies, Levy offers a roadmap that empowers school boards to tackle intractable public education challenges, including initiative fatigue, district climate, and accountability. School boards are where theory meets practice, where federal and state requirements converge with local policies, and where constituents can advocate for important issues affecting our children today. Every K-12 stakeholder--administrators, teachers, parents, and students alike--has a vested interest in understanding how school boards shape education.

Scott Levy is Adjunct Lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. He has been elected four times to a local public school board in Westchester County, NY and has served as president of a regional school boards association. He is Chairman of Blythedale Children’s Hospital and former Executive Director of the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence. He spent two decades as an investment banker advising corporate boards and senior executives.