If you guessed the school board, you're right. School board members are familiar faces in most districts. Arizona currently has nine all-female local school boards, and twenty Ohio school boards were all female at the beginning of 1996. The all-female school board for Tacoma, Washington is another good example of changing demographics. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, the board was frequently all male.
Regional statistics tell a somewhat different story, though.
There appears to be a clear connection between board members' incomes and levels of education. Nearly half of board members have graduate degrees, and 44 percent are employed in professional and managerial positions, according to the 1997 survey. School board members' vital statistics have stayed pretty consistent, and so have the issues that concern them. Board members have always worried about budgets, lack of parental involvement, and curriculum development. But what's new these days is that they are also concerned with technology, increases in student enrollment, and at-risk students.