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CityAndStateNY.com
November 13, 2017
AGENCY FOCUS
INTRODUCTION TO THE STATE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT KEY CONCEPT: The state Education Department’s mission is to raise the knowledge, skill and opportunity of all the people in New York.
STATISTICS TO KNOW: ■ 733 districts ■ 4,449 public schools ■ 308 charter schools ■ 210,496 public school teachers ■ 2,640,250 total K-12 public school students in the state
One of the primary roles that government plays is providing a public education. The state Education Department carries out that task in many ways, most visibly by educating public school students from prekindergarten through 12th grade. This part of the department’s work is carried out by the state Office of P-12 Education – and it’s no small task.
THE DEPARTMENT IS overseen by the state Board of Regents, whose members are voted into office by the state Legislature. The Board of Regents’ 17 members are unpaid and are elected for five-year
terms. The body is headed by Chancellor Betty Rosa, who works closely with state Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia on policy and strategy. We’ll hear from both of them in later this chapter.