Situated within global shifts toward decentralized governance, this case study examines the power dynamics shaping collective parental involvement in municipal education. Rather than assuming empowerment as an inherent outcome, the analysis approaches governance as a negotiated arena characterized by institutional ambiguity (Hajer, 2003), where participatory expansion coexists with preserved policy sovereignty. Power is conceptualized within a spatial and class based context, embedded in control over non-substitutable resources such as regulatory authority and local policy making. The concept of Selective Institutional Accessibility explains how cultural homophily facilitates proximity to decision making while local authorities operate as strategic steerers (Rhodes, 1996), balancing democratic legitimacy with managerial control (Pierre & Peters, 2000). A qualitative case study (Yin, 2018) was conducted in a high socioeconomic municipality (Cluster 9). Data from fifteen semi-structured interviews were analyzed through constructivist grounded theory (Charmaz, 2014) to trace how accessibility is negotiated and bounded within this institutional context. Findings identify a four component mechanism:
1. Cultural homophily converts collective expertise into selective accessibility but produces asymmetric dependence between parent leaders and municipal officials.
2. Ritualized participation generates legitimacy without local authorities reallocating strategic authority.
3. An informal bypass space grants direct accessibility to a parental core.
4. Parent leaders function as mediators who stabilize institutional boundaries.
The study demonstrates how policy sovereignty is maintained through relational and symbolic mechanisms rather than formal authority alone, offering a case based analytical framework for examining decentralized education systems.

Authors:
Sharon Shani, Tel Aviv University, Israel
Audrey Addi Raccah, Tel Aviv University, Israel

About the Presenter(s)
Sharon Shani is an accomplished educational leader and a doctoral researcher at the School of Education, Tel Aviv University. Her academic work investigates the complex power dynamics of collective parental involvement in municipal educational governance. Utilizing social exchange theory and political sociology, she analyzes how institutional boundaries are negotiated within local policy networks.

Shani brings over two decades of multifaceted leadership experience within the Israeli educational system to her research. Her professional trajectory includes serving as a school principal, a district inspector of educational institutions, and the director of a municipal education department. This unique combination of grassroots management and high level policy oversight allows her to bridge the gap between theoretical frameworks and practical field dynamics. Currently, she serves as an inspector at the Israeli Ministry of Education, where she is responsible for school attendance, children and youth at risk, and dropout prevention. In this capacity, she oversees pedagogical strategies and inter organizational collaborations aimed at ensuring educational equity.

Her scholarly contributions include the recent publication "Is Educational Entrepreneurship Context Dependent? Insights from Directors of Israeli Local Education Authorities" (Shani and Yemini, 2024). This study examines how the local environment shapes entrepreneurial initiatives among education directors. Her ongoing doctoral project further explores the concept of selective institutional accessibility, specifically focusing on how socioeconomic status and cultural homophily facilitate or restrict parent collectives influence on municipal decision making. She aims to develop a robust analytical framework applicable to diverse decentralized educational contexts worldwide.

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