Schools in poorer parts of England are struggling to find enough governors to cope with what is an increasingly complex role, a study has said.
A Joseph Rowntree Foundation report said the idea every school should have its own governors might seem "bizarre".
One way forward could be to have experienced, committed and perhaps paid governors covering groups of schools.
The report argued there was a need for a wider-ranging public debate about the whole issue of school governance.
There are some 350,000 places on school governing bodies in England, to be filled by volunteers drawn from the staff, parents, local authorities and communities.
The study was located in three different areas which all had social and economic disadvantages.
The researchers identified schools serving most of the children there and interviewed more than 100 people connected with them, including governors, head teachers, and local authority officers.
Their report said that, in recent decades, governments had expected school governors to take on more responsibility without ensuring they had the capacity to do so.
Most interviewees felt governors were working hard and that, under the right circumstances, could make a valuable contribution to the running of schools.
The report concluded that the options could not be considered without more fundamental questions being addressed.
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