Home rule

Home rule is control of an issue at the local level, rather than the state or federal level.

Each of the 50 states differs as to the extent of home rule (as opposed to "Dillon's Rule", a legal theory which opposes it). For example, Texas does not permit home rule except in two instances:

• First, cities exceeding 5,000 population may (upon voter approval) adopt a city charter, which grants some level of home rule, but the powers in the charter cannot be inconsistent with the Texas Constitution or the general laws of the state. Nearly all cities of that size have done so. In response to cities' implementation of liberal policies (such as Dallas implementing a plastic bag fee, or Denton outlawing fossil fuel drilling within city limits), Texas has increasingly withdrawn home rule rights from cities (both of those laws were later superseded by state laws outlawing them).
• Second, school districts may (with voter approval) adopt a limited form of home rule. However, no district has ever adopted it.

In education it is important whether an area has the advantage of "home rule," or must follow a state or federal standard. States that have the best public schools tend to be home rule states, such that local school districts decide what to teach (although they are expected to follow general state standards).

Home rule makes it more difficult for supporters of Common Core to impose it statewide in those states.