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Monday, April 28, 2003

Mayors in cities around the country are beginning to take a more prominent role in how school boards operate and how board members are selected. Here is a description of the mayor's role in school boards in 14 cities.

CITY	Number on board	Elected	Appointed	Mayor's role
Boston	7	0	7	Appoints all from citizens panel choices.
Chicago	7	0	7	Appoints all.
Cincinnati	7	7	0	Supports tax levies, works with council committee that works with board.
Cleveland	9	0	9	Appoints all.
Columbus	7	7	0	Started office of education, after-school programs.
Detroit	7	0	7	Appoints 6; governor appoints 1 with veto power.
Harrisburg *	5	0	5	Appoints all.
New Haven, Conn.	8	0	8	Is board member and appoints all 7 others.
Oakland Unified, Calif.	10	7	3	Lobbied for appointed board, got 3 appointed seats added.
Pittsburgh	9	9	0	Named study commission.
Philadelphia *	5	0	5	Appoints 2; governor appoints 3. State Senate confirms all.
Portland, Ore.	7	7	0	Offered tax help.
Sacramento City Unified	7**	7	0	Backed 5 candidates elected to board.
Washington, D.C.	9	5	4	Appoints 4, chooses superintendent.
* Philadelphia has an appointed school reform commission which is its governing body. Harrisburg has an appointed board of control. ** An eighth board member, a high school student, votes on some matters.