Do We Need School Districts? Opponents Say Districts Are Unwilling or Unable to Adopt Change; Proponents Say They Serve a Crucial, Practical Role Implementing and Preserving Local Input. Where's the Middle Ground?

The local role in the governance of public education continues to be a hotly debated issue around the world. Most school systems have some kind of local governance structure that sits between individual schools and national or state governments. In theory, districts or regions are key to making an education system work by providing appropriate local adaptation and direction, as well as a forum for citizen input. But the role of these bodies is frequently called into question and, in some places, this middle tier has been largely eliminated. Local districts are seen as adding bureaucracy but not value. Low voter turnout in local elections feeds this cynicism. Should local governance of schools exist and, if it does, what should be its role and powers? There are many models from which to choose. Sometimes, as in most states in Australia, the middle tier is made up of regional units of the state ministry of education, which continues to be the policy maker, funder, employer of all staff, and owner of all buildings. Some countries, such as France or many developing nations, make virtually all decisions of any consequence centrally. Another model, used in many European and Asian countries, gives elected municipal governments a role in delivering education, often including hiring staff and looking after facilities. Countries vary quite a bit in how much authority local districts will have, and local authority can be quite different for different areas of education, usually with more influence over programs than financing. Then there are hybrid approaches. In the Netherlands, some schools are governed by municipalities and others are grouped together based on a common orientation such as religion or pedagogical approach. In that system, many individual schools are governed independently, but most (and an increasing proportion) are part of a network or district of some kind. In England, individual schools have a great deal of control over their staffing and budgets. The role of local authorities (municipalities) in education has been dramatically reduced, but the system is now struggling with other ways of networking or linking its 20,000 schools, especially its many small primary schools. Canada and the United States have another form--specially organized local authorities called school districts that are governed by elected officials. In both countries, districts are controlled by state or provincial legislation and, in theory, are subordinate to state governments. But the political reality can be that districts may have enough political muscle to shape state actions to a considerable degree. This is particularly the case in the United States given its long tradition and strong commitment to local control. Not only do the powers of these local authorities vary, but so do their numbers. For example, the Canadian province of Ontario and the state of Illinois have about the same population, and Ontario is much larger in area. Yet Ontario has 72 school districts; Illinois, more than 850. When I was a senior civil servant in Canada, ministers regularly asked me why we didn't just get rid of school boards--especially when the boards opposed a government initiative. The British government vastly diminished the role of local government in education because it felt local authorities were an obstruction to improvement, a view supported by many school leaders. Other countries also have experimented with changes, such as decentralization in Sweden about a decade ago. In the United States, large urban boards have been a particular subject of criticism; in some cities, boards appointed by mayors have replaced elected school boards. Evidence of the value of that strategy is far from conclusive. Eliminating the middle tier may solve one problem while creating others. How will large numbers of schools, many of them small, be able to progress without supports of various kinds? How can national policy be implemented if there are many delivery units, many of which lack the capacity to support improvement? …

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