ABSTRACT
The terms of the partnership that governs American public education are currently undergoing their most rapid and profound transformation in over seventy years. The beginning of this century saw the emergence of a system administered by professional educators accountable in varying degrees to predominantly upper-middle-class community representatives composing school boards. The major developments in education governance in the 1990s dramatize and contribute to a continuing power shift from the school boards to the states. The states specify the responsibilities, powers, and procedures of the school districts through constitutional provisions, legislative enactments, administrative rules, regulations, and decisions, as well as judicial verdicts and opinions. The state departments of education are involved in planning, implementing, and evaluating instructional programs, establishing high school graduation requirements, defining teacher certification requirements, and compiling and analyzing a broad range of data related to education.
