•  
  •  
 

Belmont Law Review

Abstract

This Article lays out the hundred-year-plus trajectory of state constitutional and statutory changes that transitioned education from a near universally democratized area of policymaking into one that unevenly balances democracy and professionalization. Part I begins by sketching out the starting position of democracy in state education governance: the initial creation of elected state education administrators and the pressures to reform these systems in the early twentieth century. Then, Part II explores the slow process by which the structure of statewide education governance shifted, discussing the methods by which reforms were proposed and the content of the proposed changes. Part III explores the adoption (and rejection) of these measures, focusing on the arguments made for and against the efforts, the outcome of the amendments, and more modern developments. In doing so, this Article situates democracy in education in today’s political climate—in which state policymakers continue to tinker with the relationship between democracy and education governance, frequently for political aims.

Download

Share

COinS