“Yet schools’ potential to fulfill democratic purposes may be threatened “by the ascendancy of the private, individual goals of schooling over its col- lective, public purposes” (McDonnell, 2000, p. 5). While both—private goals intended to give individuals skills and knowledge for economic and social attainment, and public goals for preparing citizens to participate in and improve one’s community—are part of public education, many scholars cau- tion that high-stakes testing and competition-driven accountability amplify private aims for teaching and learning to the detriment of public ones (Howell, 2005; Labaree, 2007; McDonnell, 2000; McNeil, 2002). Thus I looked for evidence of private, individualized educational goals or public, collective goals held by board members and their superintendent as one aspect of the district’s potential democratic governance.”