End State Takeovers, Appointed School Boards & Mayoral Control

We have a crisis in school governance. The overwhelming majority of state takeovers, mayoral control and appointed school boards exists in cities that serve primarily Black and Brown families. That is a voting rights issue and we want it to stop. We need the elimination of these oppressive structures that ignore the voices of concerned constituents and grease the rails for politically connected charter and contract school operators. Defenders of these structures argue that elected school boards bring “politics” into public education. We retort with this: how could it possibly be more political than it is now? Privatizers regurgitate civil rights language, while ignoring the voices of the people directly impacted. It is shameful conduct that will not go unchallenged. We want elected, representative school boards. While they are not a panacea, we view democracy as a necessary ingredient in moving towards an equitable school system, a practical application of the notion of accountability to the public.