Education: who decides

Education decisions in the United States are split across many authorities. States hold the main constitutional duty and supply the largest share of school money, about 13,850 local school systems run the schools day to day, the federal government attaches conditions to a smaller share of funding and enforces civil rights and disability law, and courts and voters can override all of them on particular questions. Knowing which body decides a specific question is the first step in acting on any education priority.

In plain words: if you want something changed about schools, the right place to ask depends on what you want. Curriculum and school calendars are usually local. How much state money each district gets is decided by the state legislature. Testing rules mix state and federal law. Special education rights come from federal law. Some school taxes need a vote of the people. This page maps who decides what. Why people rank education the way they do is on the Education page; what research shows is on Education: evidence.

Defined terms

Education governance uses several legal terms that this page relies on.

Independent school district. A school system that the Census Bureau counts as its own unit of government, usually with an elected board and its own taxing power.

Dependent school system. A school system run as an agency of a state, county, city or township, and not counted as a separate government.⁠¹

Education clause. A provision in a state constitution that requires the state to provide public schools.

Equity claim and adequacy claim. Two kinds of school finance lawsuits. An equity claim argues that funding is unfairly unequal across districts; an adequacy claim argues that the state is not funding the level of education its constitution requires.⁠²

Conditional federal funding. Federal money that comes with requirements a state or district accepts by taking it.

Interagency agreement. An arrangement under which one federal agency manages programs on behalf of another.

The layers at a glance

Education authority in the United States can be summarized by layer. The table below gives typical arrangements; every state differs, and the sections that follow give the legal sources.

Evidence: federal authority in education is real but limited

Federal education authority in the United States is built on spending and civil rights, not on direct control of schools.

A statutory limit on federal control. Federal law says no federal program shall be construed to authorize any department, agency, officer or employee to direct, supervise or control the curriculum, program of instruction, administration or personnel of any school or school system, or the selection of library resources, textbooks or instructional materials.⁠³

Testing and standards. Under the Every Student Succeeds Act, states that receive Title I funds must test students in mathematics and reading or language arts “in each of grades 3 through 8” and “at least once in grades 9 through 12,” and in science at least once in each of three grade bands.⁠⁴ The same law says a state “shall not be required to submit any standards” to the Secretary of Education for review or approval, and that the Secretary has no authority to “mandate, direct, control, coerce, or exercise any direction or supervision” over a state’s academic standards.⁠⁴ So the federal government requires tests but the states write the standards and choose the tests.

Disability rights. States that take funds under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act must make “a free appropriate public education” available to all children with disabilities ages 3 through 21, and must educate them with children who are not disabled “to the maximum extent appropriate”.⁠⁵ This is one of the strongest federal requirements on local schools.

Money. The federal share of public school revenue was 11.6% in fiscal year 2024 ($115.1 billion), down 4.4% from the year before.⁠⁶ The share varies by state: in school year 2020 to 2021 it ranged from 20% in South Dakota to 5% in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.⁠⁷

No federal right to equal funding. In San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez (March 21, 1973), the U.S. Supreme Court, over four dissents, held that the Texas school finance system did not violate the Equal Protection Clause, writing that “Education, of course, is not among the rights afforded explicit protection under our Federal Constitution”.⁠⁸ After Rodriguez, school funding fights moved to state courts.

The Department of Education, 2025 to 2026

The federal Department of Education was created by statute: “There is established an executive department to be known as the Department of Education”.⁠⁹ On March 20, 2025, Executive Order 14242 directed the Secretary of Education, “to the maximum extent appropriate and permitted by law,” to “facilitate the closure of the Department of Education” and “return authority over education to the States and local communities” while ensuring uninterrupted delivery of services.⁠¹⁰

Since then, the department has moved day-to-day management of many programs to other agencies through interagency agreements. Education Week reported, in an article updated July 1, 2026, that the agreements cover “nearly 150 programs and related functions” moved to six agencies, including career and adult education to Labor in May 2025, most K-12 and many higher education programs to Labor, Health and Human Services, Interior and State in November 2025, the student loan portfolio to Treasury in March 2026, and special education to Health and Human Services and some civil rights enforcement to Justice in June 2026.⁠¹¹ The same article reported that top administration officials have acknowledged that closing the department altogether needs congressional approval, that plaintiffs in two lawsuits have challenged the agreements, and that the Congressional Research Service could not find court rulings interpreting the statutes cited for them.⁠¹¹

Congress has acted only in part. The American Educational Research Association reported in August 2026 that the House Education and Workforce Committee advanced ten bills on July 15, 2026 “mostly along party lines,” and that the Senate HELP Committee advanced a bill on July 30, 2026 by a 13 to 9 vote that would bar the transfer of four offices, including the special education office.⁠¹²

Supporters of the transfers argue that they return control to states and reduce federal bureaucracy; opponents argue that they move programs without the legislation the Constitution requires and risk weakening civil rights and disability protections. This is an active dispute. The facts above are as reported on the dates given, and readers should check the current status.

State authority: the main duty

Education is primarily a state responsibility under state constitutions, and the wording matters.

New Jersey. Article VIII, Section IV, paragraph 1 of the New Jersey Constitution says “The Legislature shall provide for the maintenance and support of a thorough and efficient system of free public schools”.⁠¹³

Washington. Article IX, Section 1 of the Washington Constitution says “It is the paramount duty of the state to make ample provision for the education of all children residing within its borders”.⁠¹⁴ The phrase “paramount duty” places education above other state functions in the constitutional text.

State courts. Because education duties sit in state constitutions, state courts enforce them. A Congressional Research Service report, revised in January 2009, found that school finance litigation “has thus far been brought in 45 out of 50 states,” and that “Adequacy has become the predominant theme of the recent wave of state court decisions”.⁠² The outcome of such cases depends on each state’s text and courts, which is why the same argument can win in one state and lose in another.

State money and its variation. States supplied 45.2% of public school revenue in fiscal year 2024, the largest single share.⁠⁶ The balance differs sharply: in 2020 to 2021, the state share was 88% in Hawaii and Vermont and 30% in Missouri, and the local share was 62% in New Hampshire.⁠⁷ In a high-state-share state, the legislature is where school funding is decided. In a high-local-share state, local property tax decisions and local voters carry more weight.

Early learning. States decide whether to fund pre-K. Researchers at Vanderbilt reported in 2022 that only two states funded pre-K programs before 1980 and that 43 states did at the time of writing, with about 1.5 million children enrolled.⁠¹⁵

School choice. States decide whether to authorize charter schools, vouchers or education savings accounts. A new federal tax credit for scholarship contributions applies only in states that “voluntarily elect to participate” by naming qualifying scholarship organizations, with the election made by the governor or another official designated under state law.⁠¹⁶ That design leaves the basic decision with states.

Local authority: thousands of separate decisions

Local school governance in the United States is unusually fragmented.

The Census Bureau counted 13,859 school systems in 2022 and 13,853 in 2025.⁠¹ Of those, 12,546 in 2022 and 12,535 in 2025 were independent school district governments.⁠¹ About 1,300 more were dependent school systems run by a state, county, city, town or township.⁠¹

The structure differs by state. The Census Bureau reports that 75% of states have independent school districts, eleven states have a mix, and Alaska, Hawaii, Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia and the District of Columbia have only dependent school systems.⁠¹ Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia have the largest numbers of dependent systems.⁠¹ In a dependent system, the school system is an agency of another government, so its budget may be decided by a county board or city council, and an education priority may need to reach that body rather than a school board.

Local sources supplied 43.2% of public school revenue in fiscal year 2024, and property taxes were 63.3% of that local revenue.⁠⁶ Where local tax increases or bonds require voter approval, voters themselves become a deciding authority. California’s constitutional school funding guarantee, adopted by voters in 1988, is discussed on Tradeoffs.

Public libraries are often governed separately from schools. The Census Bureau lists libraries among the services provided by special-purpose governments,⁠¹ and in many places a city or county library board, not a school district, decides library hours and branches.

Higher education and training

Higher education authority is divided differently, and this page has not compiled it state by state. Public colleges and universities are created under state law, so their governing structure, and who sets tuition, differs from state to state, while federal student aid is administered federally. The transfer of the federal student loan portfolio’s management to the Treasury, reported for March 2026, shows how federal administrative choices can change who a borrower deals with without a change in state policy.⁠¹¹ Job training funded under federal workforce law runs through local workforce development boards certified by each governor, a majority of whose members must represent local business;⁠¹⁷ see Economy and Work: who decides.

Competing interpretations

Education governance raises a standing argument about the right level of decision.

Supporters of local control argue that school boards are closer to families, that communities differ, and that the federal statute barring federal control of curriculum⁠³ reflects a sound principle. Supporters of stronger state roles argue that state constitutions place the duty on the state and that local property wealth creates unequal schools. Supporters of a larger federal role argue that civil rights, disability rights and national comparisons such as NAEP require a national floor. Supporters of parental choice argue that the most local level is the family. Each position contains a real value: responsiveness, equality, protection of rights, and individual liberty. They trade against each other.

Application to this framework

Education priorities in My Vote Forward are pointed at authorities, not at “the government” in general. Every proposal must name the body that can adopt it. See Proposals and Jurisdictions.

Hypothetical example. A participant ranks Education first and then supports a proposal to extend the school day. In an independent district, the proposal is addressed to the school board, subject to state law and any union contract. In a dependent system such as those in Virginia, the board’s budget may also need approval from a county or city governing body. The framework should show that path rather than imply the participant’s ranking reaches anyone directly.

Unresolved questions

Education governance leaves several questions open:

• When a priority concerns a dependent school system, should the framework address the school board, the county or city, or both?
• How should results handle authority that is in dispute, such as federal program transfers under legal challenge?
• Should statewide results be broken out by district so that local boards can see their own residents’ views, and what privacy limits does that require? See Measurement.
• How should state courts’ role in school funding be explained without implying that a court case is a priority tool?