What Research Tells Us About School Takeovers

"School Takeovers" Part II

This piece was made possible by the Center for Educator Wellness and Learning (CEWL).

On July 10, 2025, Superintendent of Education Ellen Weaver and the South Carolina Department of Education announced their intent to take over the finances of Marlboro Schools. The State Board of Education voted unanimously to allow the takeover to move forward this week. While the financial picture in the district is somewhat complex, South Carolina education supporters should consider what research has told us about school takeovers, in general, as well as the results of past takeovers in our state.

The South Carolina Department of Education met for a special called meeting in July to discuss the takeover of Marlboro Schools’ finances. (Screenshot from department web video archive.)

What drives takeovers?

A few years back, education professor and school takeover researcher Domingo Morel told EdWeek, “If takeovers were happening [solely] because districts are struggling, we would have many more takeovers than we do.”

The piece continues, “Other factors that precipitate takeovers, Morel has found, include school boards whose members mostly are people of color and court rulings ordering states to supply more funding to schools with large shares of students with high needs.”

Similarly, the authors of a recent research paper on school takeovers found that Black and Latino districts were more likely to be taken over by states than majority White districts, even when they had equivalent “academic performance”. A study cited by the authors also found that, “state takeovers of majority-Black districts have been followed by a decrease in the representation of African Americans in local government.”