To ensure school districts, schools, administrators, teachers and students meet acceptable performance levels, many states and school districts are implementing a variety of accountability policies. One of the most controversial accountability approaches is a state takeover of a school district. In such a takeover, either the state legislature, the state board of education or a federal court charges the state department of education or another designated entity, such as a mayor, with managing a school district.

Presently, 29 states have enacted policies that allow them to take over a school district, usually due to a combination of inept administration, fiscal mismanagement, corrupt governance and academic problems within the school district. Many state policies provide a succession of sanctions for academic such problems, with takeovers as the ultimate sanction. Other state policies target a single troubled school district for an immediate state takeover.

The level of state control and local influence in takeovers varies from state to state. In some cases, such as New Jersey, state officials relieve school board members and high-level administrators of their duties and appoint others to manage the school district in their place. In other cases, such as West Virginia, school board members and high-level administrators remain in place; they advise state-appointed decision-makers on fiscal and budgetary matters, but still make curricular and instructional decisions. In other instances, such as Boston, Chicago, Cleveland and Detroit, the state places governance authority over the school district in the hands of a city’s mayor.

Several states have broadened the takeover notion to allow state takeovers of schools. In total, 23 states have enacted policies that allow them to take over a school.

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