The Ann Arbor Public Schools board discusses a resolution calling for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war on Jan. 17, 2024, in Ann Arbor, Mich.
AP Photo/Joey Cappelletti
As in the federal and state governments, local elected officials are more likely to be white than their constituents. At times, such as with school boards, the differences are particularly stark.
A display of books that have been banned in various places is on view at a community gathering space in Washington, D.C.
Craig Hudson for The Washington Post via Getty Images
Current precedent relies on a 1982 case in which five justices generally agreed there were limits on a school’s power to ban books, but they didn’t agree on why.
Data shows teacher pay never exceeds that of other college graduates.
Blend Images - LWA/Dann Tardif via Getty Images
From the founding of the U.S., public schools were seen as a key way to develop an informed, active citizenry. Social studies educators struggle to achieve that goal today.
School board elections are increasingly contested.
Nathan Howard/Getty Images
School board elections are becoming increasingly fractious and political events, with candidates focused on one or two issues. An education policy scholar explains why that’s a worrisome trend.
Political motives help explain why states take over schools.
Lightspring/www.shutterstock.com
While state takeovers of schools are nothing new, the ones taking place as of late suggest a political agenda is at play under the guise of school reform, a political science scholar argues.
An important lesson in free speech.
Rick Wilking/Reuters
Students in Jefferson County, Colorado, popularly known as JeffCo, have learned an important civics lesson about their power to influence policy. In late September, hundreds of students organized to oppose…