Mapping Inequalities in Local Political Representation - Evidence from Ohio School Boards

Oct 15, 2026

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Mapping Inequalities in Local Political Representation examines how elected school board members’ residential locations relate to socioeconomic status, social networks, and potential bias. Using home address data collected from local elections offices, the study analyzes two election cycles across 610 Ohio school districts. Geographic information systems (GIS) link residences to census block groups and school enrollment zones, revealing stronger neighborhood affluence and competitive run propensities in affluent areas.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages19

Reading Time48 min

AccessFree to download

Mapping Inequalities in Local Political Representation

Background and research motivation

The role of residence in representation

Data and GIS-based geographic analysis

Findings on affluence and candidacy

AERA Open October-December 2018, Vol. 4, No. 4, pp. 1–19 DOI: 10. 1177/2332858418818074 Article reuse guidelines: [sagepub.com/journals-permissions](sagepub.com/journals-permissions)[ ](sagepub.com/journals-permissions)© The Author(s) 2018. [http://journals.sagepub.com/home/ero](http://journals.sagepub.com/home/ero) Mapping Inequalities in Local Political Representation: Evidence from Ohio School Boards Brendan Bartanen Jason A. Grissom Ela Joshi Vanderbilt University Marc Meredith University of Pennsylvania Elected representatives’place of residence can reveal information about their socioeconomic status, their likely social networks, and potential biases in the constituencies they represent. Using data on home addresses we collected from local elections offices, we investigate the geographic distribution of school board candidates’, including winners’, places of residence across two election cycles for 610 school districts in Ohio. We employ geographic information systems (GIS) to identify census block group and school enrollment zones associated with each candidate’s residence. We document differences among block groups and schools with more and less school board representation, including a robust association between the relative affluence of a neighborhood and the likelihood of school board members residing in that area. We find that more citizens from affluent areas run for school board, and because a large proportion of school board elections feature minimal competition, these higher propensities to run explain disparities in representation. Keywords: school boards, inequality, geographic information systems, governance, representation In the United States, school boards serve a number of essential functions for the school systems that they oversee, including setting policy priorities, hiring and monitoring district administrators, and making budget allocation decisions (Kirst & Wirt, 2009). An accumulating body of research suggests that the identities of school board members can affect their decisions and enactment of the role. For example, electing board members of color correlates with increased hiring of administrators and teachers of color (e.g., Meier, Juenke, Wrinkle, & Polinard, 2005; Meier & Rutherford, 2014). Boards with larger numbers of Democrats enact policies that decrease school segregation (Macartney & Singleton, 2018), while ideologically mixed boards exhibit greater interpersonal conflict, with potential consequences for their decision-making effectiveness (Grissom, 2010, 2014) . Given that school board members shape policy outcomes, we know surprisingly little about who serves on school boards (Hess & Meeks, 2010; Land, 2002) . This study focuses on a particularly salient characteristic of school board members: where they live within the school district. Home location can reveal a good deal of information about aboard member that is both politically and policy relevant. First, one’s neighborhood of residence signals socioeconomic privilege, which can provide electoral advantages and affect board voting behavior (Barreto, Cohen-Marks, & Woods, 2009; Gerber, 1998; Sheffield & Goering, 1978; Shields & Goidel, 1997; Stratmann, 2005) . Board members who come from wealthier neighborhoods, for example, may have access to greater financial and social resources and may live in neighborhoods with a greater voter turnout, which may increase the probability that they are elected (Barreto et al., 2009) . Second, in most school systems, residency establishes which particular schools students are “zoned for,” that is, which elementary, middle, and high schools any children living in that home would be eligible to attend. If school board members are the parents of public school children they may have particular interest in policy decisions, such as those affecting resource allocation or personnel decisions, that impact their “home” schools. Even if they do not have children attending the

FAQs

What does the study analyze about Ohio school board elections?

It examines how candidates’ and winners’ residential locations are geographically distributed across two election cycles in 610 Ohio school districts.

How are candidates’ residences used in the research?

Home addresses are mapped with GIS to census block groups and school enrollment zones tied to each candidate’s residence.

What relationship does the study find between neighborhood affluence and school board representation?

It finds a robust association between relative neighborhood affluence and the likelihood of school board members residing in those areas, tied to higher propensities to run in affluent areas.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by Cart