As local control diminished, so did the academic quality of our schools. U.S. schools are now rated as among the worst in the developed world. This is more than a tragedy - it is child abuse.
It's one of the planks of the Communist Manifesto. It's not an accident that control has shifted away from localities, and to a central agency.
The trick is to have the people think they have control; and for that all that is necessary is create some sort of false or trivial conflict, then declare the people get to choose by voting.
Epecially when you consider there is zero in the U.S. Constitution that education is a federal function.