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Local school board authority across the 50 states
| Education Policy | |
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| Education policy topics | |
| • Overview of trends in K-12 curricula development • Impact of school choice on rural school districts • Local school board authority across the 50 states • State policies on cellphone use in K-12 public schools • School choice in the United States • School choice glossary
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| Other policy areas | |
| Click here for coverage of other policy areas on Ballotpedia |
Last updated: September 16, 2025
This article summarizes Ballotpedia's research on how the laws and regulations of each of the 50 states grant and limit authority to local school boards.
- Click here to navigate to articles about local school board authority in each state.
The research includes the laws establishing and giving school boards general and specific powers and duties. It also contains an investigation into the authority of and constraints on school board policy-making power concerning the following specific topics:
- Required curriculum
- Restricted or prohibited curriculum
- Book bans and restrictions
- Parental notification policies
- Discipline
- School board elections
- Public school choice and open enrollment
- Charter schools
- Cellphone bans
Types of legal and contractual constraints on school board authority
School board authority comes from state constitutions and state statutes and can be interpreted or specified by state regulations or court decisions. In addition to authority over district budgets, the selection of a superintendent, and administrative responsibilities, school boards have varying levels of authority over district policy on other topics depending on the state and district.
There are several sources of legal and contractual constraints on school board policy-making authority which also vary by state or by district.
- State laws commonly restrict or mandate school board policies on certain topics.
- Parents' Bills of Rights, which at least 26 states have in statute to some degree, limit the policies school boards are allowed to pass.
- State rules, guidance, and funding incentives can constrain, mandate, or influence school board policies. These include regulations from state education commissions and superintendents, executive orders from governors, or grant conditions.
- Federal and state court rulings can dictate whether or not school district policies are compatible with state law or federal law.
- The federal government, largely through its Department of Education, can promulgate regulations or guidance that influence district policy or make funding contingent on certain policies.
- Collective bargaining agreements between school districts and teacher unions can create contractual constraints on the policies school boards can pass.
- State school board associations can influence school board policy or, in some cases. enter into contracts with school boards that can limit school board policy.
This page features the following sections:
- Summary of key findings
- Authority of local school boards in each state
- How do the states compare to one another?
- Methodology
Summary of key findings
Ballotpedia's research, among other notable takeaways, found that state laws governing school boards differ considerably across the U.S. including in the following ways:
- Law in some states gives school boards general authority over policy in their school districts, while other states list specific powers and duties. Some states do both. For example, Arizona gives local school boards 46 specific powers and duties, and 36 additional optional powers. In contrast, Pennsylvania gives local school boards general authority over district policy.
- Law in some states prohibits school boards from collective bargaining with public employees, though some states permit it. Collective bargaining agreements (CBAs) can limit school boards' authority over policy in certain ways, as in a CBA between the Aliquippa School District and the Aliquippa Education Association, which requires the district to hear feedback from each affected department and grade level before implementing curricular changes. In California, though school boards are given the authority to approve or deny charter school applications, a CBA allows teachers to review and comment on charter school applications in the Los Angeles Unified School District before the board issues a decision.
- School boards in seven states have the authority to choose the timing of school board elections to varying degrees; some must choose from a list in state statute, others can choose a date within a specific time range. In contrast, 42 states codify the timing of school board elections in state law.
- School boards in some states can approve or deny charter school applications. In states such as Idaho and California, school boards are one of a few different entities that can authorize charter schools. In other states, such as Hawaii and Mississippi, state-level charter commissions have authority over issuing school charters.
- Most state statutes include curricular topic requirements, including computer science in Idaho and mental health instruction in Oklahoma.
- Most state laws include curriculum restrictions, including instruction in what state law called divisive concepts in Alabama and what state law calls advocacy for or teaching of communism with the intent to indoctrinate in California.
Authority of local school boards in each state
Click your state on the map or in the list of links below to navigate to an article about school board authority in that state.
- Alabama
- Alaska
- Arizona
- Arkansas
- California
- Colorado
- Connecticut
- Delaware
- Florida
- Georgia
- Hawaii
- Idaho
- Illinois
- Indiana
- Iowa
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maine
- Maryland
- Massachusetts
- Michigan
- Minnesota
- Mississippi
- Missouri
- Montana
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey
- New Mexico
- New York
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- Ohio
- Oklahoma
- Oregon
- Pennsylvania
- Rhode Island
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Tennessee
- Texas
- Utah
- Vermont
- Virginia
- Washington
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin
- Wyoming
How do the states compare to one another?
This section compares local school board authority and constraints on that authority across the states on select topics. These topics include authority over discipline policy, school board election timing, charter schools, cellphone use policy, as well as constraints on school boards' authority from Parents' Bills of Rights.
Book bans, removals, and restrictions
Twenty-three (23) states have no laws regulating the curation of school library books. Twenty-seven (27) states, however, have passed laws restricting school board authority over school library book curation. These laws typically fall into one of the following categories:
- Eleven states require school boards to develop a policy for the removal of books, including creating a way for the public to challenge school library books.
- Nine states prohibit school boards from removing books on the grounds that they represent specific ideologies or perspectives.
- Six states prohibit books if they contain specific material, including sexual content or anything deemed harmful to minors.
- Five states require school boards to establish local boards to review challenges to library books.
- Two states require school boards to allow parents to view a catalogue of books.
Some states have adopted multiple types of these policies.
Discipline
- School boards in 47 states have authority over disciplinary policy in their district.
- School boards in two states have authority over disciplinary policy for specific circumstances, such as suspension, expulsion, or bullying.
- Individual schools in one state create their own disciplinary policy.
School board elections
School boards' authority over the timing of school board elections varies by state.
- School boards in 42 states do not have authority over election timing;
- School boards in five states can choose from limited options when to hold school board elections;
- School boards in two states can choose from a date range when to hold school board elections;
- The school board in Hawaii is not elected.
The map below shows the types of authority school boards in the states have to determine the timing of school board elections.
Charter schools
- See also: Charter schools in the United States
Some school boards in the U.S. are authorized to approve or deny applications for charter schools in their district, while state boards of education hold the authority in other states. In some states, school boards can authorize charter schools, but there are other entities besides school boards that can also authorize charter schools or to which a school board decision can be appealed.
- 10 states do not authorize school boards to make decisions on whether to approve new charter schools in their districts.
- 36 states do authorize school boards to approve new charter schools in their districts, deny approval to new charter schools, or both.
- 3 states do not have laws governing charter school authorization.
- 1 state allows school districts to apply to the state board of education to be a charter school district.
State cellphone laws
In most states, school boards or superintendents often set policies on cellphones in public schools. According to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), around 76% of schools said they banned the non-academic use of cellphones or smartphones during school hours during the 2021-22 school year, down from 91% in 2010.[1]
Beginning with Florida in 2023, some states enacted laws or policies to regulate student cellphone usage in public schools. Twenty-six (26) states had statewide laws or policies restricting cellphone use in K-12 classrooms or schools as of June 2025. Four states had requirements for all school district boards to adopt a policy on cellphones but without specific requirements for those policies. Four other states had policies encouraging school districts to establish restrictions on cellphone use in the classroom.
Parents' Bill of Rights
- See also: Parents' Bill of Rights in education
If state law explicitly provides certain rights to parents, it can constrain the policy-making authority of school boards. These sections of statute are often referred to within statute and are categorized here as Parents' Bills of Rights. In some states, they are education-specific, regarding the rights a parent has to be involved in their child's public education. Common examples include notification requirements, opt-out rights, and records access. Other Parents' Bills of Rights are more general, commonly affording parents a right to direct the upbringing of their child.
- 26 states have enacted a statewide Parents' Bill of Rights
- 24 states have not enacted a Parents' Bill of Rights.
Methodology
Ballotpedia researched how much authority local school boards have over policy in their districts and what constrains that authority.
To find out, Ballotpedia searched through the following sources:
- state statute
- state administrative code
- state constitutions
- collective bargaining agreements
- recently enacted legislation
Ballotpedia focused on the following topics:
- Powers and duties of school boards, including discretionary powers
- constraints on school boards' authority, specifically related to the following topics:
- curriculum requirements and restrictions set forth in state law
- removal of books from school libraries
- parental notification in certain circumstances or about specific instructional topics
- disciplinary policy
- timing of school board elections
- public school choice and open enrollment
- charter schools
- cell phone bans
- constraints on school boards' authority from the following:
- legal obligations from collective bargaining agreements
- Parents' Bills of Rights
Ballotpedia's research is not comprehensive, as it provides an overview and aims to compare the authority school boards are given in each state.
See also
- Local school board authority across the 50 states
- K-12 curriculum authority, requirements, and statutes in the states
- State policies on cellphone use in K-12 public schools
- Rules governing school board election dates and timing
- Charter schools
- School choice
- Parents' Bill of Rights in education
- Ballotpedia:Index of Contents
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Footnotes
