Superintendents & School Boards Associations

Who: Two professional clubs. The superintendents association (a national one, AASA, plus one in most states) is run largely by former superintendents and funded by dues, often paid by districts. The state school boards association matters more for you: it trains new board members and, in many states, sells districts a policy service, ready-made policy language that boards adopt almost word for word.

Power: Behind the scenes. Both lobby the legislature on education laws and funding. If your district's phone or discipline policy sounds oddly generic, compare it with the school boards association's model policy; it's often a close match. Superintendents also swap ideas at conferences, which is how a new program spreads from district to district. They rarely get involved in local board politics.

What they care about: Superintendents want authority and flexibility, more funding with fewer strings, and fewer new state mandates. School boards associations push for local control.

How to work with them: You'll rarely deal with them directly. When your superintendent says "other districts are doing this," email their office and ask: "Which districts are doing this?" Then find students in those districts (student government, the school paper) and ask how it's actually going. If you're pushing a state law, expect both associations to weigh in, and find out early which side they're on.