ABSTRACT
Historically, schools and school governance structures began and have continued to be a seemingly paradoxical combination of both the active exercise of politics and the declaration of its apolitical purity. Some researchers observe that board members believe that education “is too important to become a political affair and that school board members are trustees for, and not representatives of, the public” (Lutz, 1977, p. 4); however, most agree that politics and policy are extrinsically linked (Hanson, 2003; Keedy & Bjork, 2003; Wirt & Kirst, 2001).
