State school district takeovers occur when a governor or legislature determines that a local district is academically or financially failing and intervenes to replace or override elected local leadership. Takeovers have been implemented in Detroit, New Jersey, Louisiana, and elsewhere since the late 1980s. Research on their effectiveness is mixed to negative: the Tennessee Achievement School District, created in 2012, ended in 2026 after failing to produce sustained academic gains in the Memphis schools it managed. Takeover authority gives state officials power over hiring, budgets, and curriculum in districts they do not represent electorally.