In view of the fact that municipal school authorities have hardly been studied, the article fundamentally examines the question of the extent to which the actions of municipal school authorities in the multi-level school system can be understood in terms of leadership. In order to arrive at substantial answers here, however, a realistic understanding of the position of municipal school authorities in the multi-level school system is required. However, since the currently discussed understandings of the multi-level school system are hardly sustainable, an analytically more fruitful concept of multi-level systems is proposed in a critical contrast to the previously discussed understanding. Against this conceptual background, we then ask what leadership in a multi-level system can mean. Finally, selected future areas of (leadership) action by municipal school authorities are outlined.

Keywords
municipal school authorities, governance, school development, leadership, local authority district