[2] As of 2023[update] in most U.S. states, public school districts may lay taxes to fund their operations.
These include the power to enter contacts, use eminent domain, and to issue binding rules and regulations affecting school policies and operations.
A district's governing body, usually called a school board, is typically elected by direct popular vote but may be appointed by other governmental officials.
The school board may also exercise a quasi-judicial function in serious employee or student discipline matters.
School districts in the Midwest and West tend to cross municipal boundaries, while school districts in New England and the Mid-Atlantic regions tend to adhere to city, township, and/or county boundaries.
A 2010 study by economist William A. Fischel found that "two-thirds of medium-to-large American cities have boundaries that substantially overlap those of a single school district" with substantial regional and state variations in the degree of overlap, "ranging from nearly perfect congruence in New England, New Jersey, and Virginia, to hardly any in Illinois, Texas, and Florida.
"[6] Older and more populous municipalities "tend to have boundaries that closely match those of a single school district.
"[6] In New York, most school districts are separate governmental units with the power to levy taxes and incur debt, except for the five cities with a population of over 125,000 (Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse, Yonkers, and New York City), where the schools are operated directly by the municipalities.
This difference is "most pronounced in majority nonwhite jurisdictions and school districts with the largest racial achievement gaps.
[13] In the 2022 Census of Governments, the United States Census Bureau enumerated the following numbers of school systems in the United States:[14] School districts in the US have reduced the number of their employees by 3.3%, or 270,000 between 2008 and 2012, owing to a decline in property tax revenues during and after the Great Recession.
[11] Although these terms can vary slightly between various states and regions, these are typical definitions for school district constitution:
(Most schools are neither organized geographically nor publicly managed, although the Department of Education inspects and funds them and pays teachers' salaries.)
The ETBs was formed in 2005 by amalgamating Vocational Education Committees established in 1930, also based on local government areas.