Why self-government is so important.

School boards in Pennsylvania are elected in low-turnout, odd-year elections, yet they hire the superintendent, set curriculum, and set your property tax rate. Below presents exactly what a school board controls, what's actually decided in Harrisburg, and three regional exceptions worth knowing before you vote.

Good questions to pose to local candidates may be about whether they understand the job. This piece gives six questions that work at almost any local candidate forum, genericized from a school board race, with one exception flagged for races where it doesn't apply.

Pennsylvania's Sunshine Act and Right-to-Know Law give residents real access to any local public body's agendas, meetings, and records with no attorney or lawsuit required. Here is an overview of the four tools every Pennsylvanian already has, using school boards as an example.