Dive Brief:
- When states swoop in to take over failing schools, they strip local school boards of their power and leave many parents feeling like they have no reason to be involved.
- News21 reports more than 5.6 million people live in communities where schools or entire districts have gone through a state takeover since 2010, and nearly one-third of them live below the poverty level while nearly two-thirds are black or Latino.
- States say the takeovers are necessary to address systemic problems, but parents in Michigan, Louisiana, Mississippi and Arkansas report feeling disenfranchised and helpless when it comes to advocating for better schools.
Dive Insight:
Parent engagement is tied directly to student success. Research shows students with involved parents are more likely to graduate and have higher academic outcomes. Yet in failing schools, where students are often most in need, state takeovers remove one important opportunity for engagement. Still, school board elections routinely get very low voter turnout and critics say they are too vulnerable to extreme views of parent and community activists.
In Chicago, one of the few school districts in the country with an appointed school board, community groups have been advocating for change for years, arguing the current arrangement fills the board with representatives who have little in common with the families that make up the majority of the district. These families are represented on local school councils, however, that contribute to school decision-making and offer important opportunities for engagement.