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School districts are a form of Special-purpose District which serves to operate the local public Primary and Secondary schools. BRITISH EMPIRE After the passing of the 1867 Reform Act, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Robert Lowe, remarked that the government would now "have to educate our masters." As a result of this view, the government passed the 1870 Education Act. The act, drafted by William Forster stated: (a) the country would be divided into about 2500 school districts; (b) School Boards were to be elected by ratepayers in each district; (c) the School Boards were to examine the provision of elementary education in their district, provided then by Voluntary Societies, and if there were not enough school places, they could build and maintain schools out of the rates; (d) the school Boards could make their own by-laws which would allow them to charge fees or, if they wanted, to let children in free. The 1870 Education Act allowed women to vote for the School Boards. Women were also granted the right to be candidates to serve on the School Boards. Several feminists saw this as an opportunity to show they were capable of public administration. In 1870, four women, Flora Stevenson, Lydia Becker, Emily Davies and Elizabeth Garrett were elected to local School Boards. Elizabeth Garrett, a popular local doctor, obtained more votes Marylebone than any other candidate in the country. {Link without Title} UNITED STATES Public education in many communities in the USA has been made the function of a school district serving one or more towns. A school district is a unique Body Corporate And Politic , usually with districts being coequal to that of a City or a County , and has similar powers including Taxation and Eminent Domain . Its legislative body, elected by direct popular vote or by appointment by other governmental officials, is called a '' School Board '', ''board of trustees'', or ''school committee'', and this body appoints a '' Superintendent '', usually an experienced public school administrator, to function as the district's Chief Executive for carrying out day-to-day decisions and policy implementations. The school board may also exercise a Quasi-judicial function in serious Employee or Student Discipline matters. Not all school systems constitute school districts as distinct bodies corporate. A few states have no school systems independent of county or municipal governments. One prominent example is functions as a single state-wide school district. In the 2002 Census of Governments, the United States Census Bureau enumerated the following numbers of school systems in the United States:
The functioning of a school district can be a key influence and concern in local Politics . A well run district with safe and clean schools, graduating enough students to good Universities , can enhance the value of housing in its area, and thus increase the amount of tax revenue available to carry out its operations. Conversely, a poorly-run district may cause growth in the area to be far less than surrounding areas, or even a decline in population. In addition to the various schools it operates and the various support facilities they require for their operation, such as School Bus yards, laundries, warehouses, and kitchens, some very large school districts operate medical clinics, television stations (many of which are official CBS , ABC , NBC , Fox , PBS or NPR affiliates for their respective markets), and fully functioning Campus Police departments. Additionally it is not unusual to find public Libraries or Recreation programs operated by a school system. In Virginia , school districts are called School Division s because funding for education comes through the city or county government that the school division is located in. Terminology Although these terms can vary slightly from jurisdiction to jurisdiction, these are typical definitions for school district constitution: Schools
Districts These terms may not appear in a district's name, even though the condition may apply.
INTERNATIONAL COMPARISONS While a number of other countries have school districts, they often vary drastically from the US model. Often other jurisdictions will have autonomous districts (or equivalent) authorities to represent various groups seeking autonomy, such as linguistic groups, or religious groups. The U.S. school districts, which tend to be based largely on geographical divisions, generally avoid this, as English is such a dominant language, and religion is largely excluded from public education. In much of the world, religious (confessional), linguistic, and other divisions, are a significant factor in organizing school districts or equivalent authorities. In England And Wales , School Boards were established in 1870, and abolished in 1902, with County Council and County Borough councils becoming the Local Education Authorities . {Link without Title} EXAMPLES
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