Parents also are members of local Community Education Councils, which control zoning.

WSJ: In Education, Many Levels, Types of Power

For starters, zoning laws, which liberals favor to control "suburban sprawl, " have constrained California's housing supply and ratcheted up prices.

WSJ: Allysia Finley: The Reverse-Joads of California

In Pennsylvania, seven municipalities have filed a lawsuit challenging a 2012 state law that takes away their ability to control gas drilling operations through local zoning.

WSJ: NY appeals court to consider local fracking bans