State takeovers are at a crossroads years following passage of both the No Child Left Behind and Every Student Succeeds Acts. Taken together, the two successive federal laws heightened school accountability politics and granted states power over low-performing districts. Now, in light of a push for increased local control on one hand and scrutiny of districts after COVID-19 closures on the other, some states are likely to steer toward state takeovers, while others move away from them. "I think there is a likelihood that we will be seeing more state takeover of districts," said Kenneth Wong, an education policy researcher and, in 2013-2014, an advisor to then-U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. Wong has worked extensively on education governance and accountability, and is an education policy professor at Brown University