The Virginia State Board of Education is an
independent board established by the
state of
Virginia in the
United States which helps set state
elementary and
secondary educational policy, advocates within state government for elementary and secondary education, administers some state educational programs, and regulates the
teaching profession in the state.
About the board
The
Virginia state constitution
The Constitution of the Commonwealth of Virginia is the document that defines and limits the powers of the state government and the basic rights of the citizens of the Commonwealth of Virginia. Like all other state constitutions, it is supreme ...
gives the state legislature, the
Virginia General Assembly, the primary governing role over public education in the state. Thus, the state board of education is merely an administrative agency which carries out the laws, policies, and programs established by the legislature.
The board is composed of nine members, who are appointed by the
Governor of Virginia and must be confirmed by the General Assembly.
["Duties." Virginia Board of Education. Virginia Department of Education. 2011.](_blank)
Accessed 2011-07-25. Members serve for four years, and may serve only two consecutive terms.
The board's duties include:
* Establishing a statewide
curriculum;
* Establishing high school graduation requirements;
* Establishing educational and certification requirements for teachers,
principals, and other education personnel;
* Establishing state
educational assessment programs, including those for the federally required
No Child Left Behind Act
The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) was a U.S. Act of Congress that reauthorized the Elementary and Secondary Education Act; it included Title I provisions applying to disadvantaged students. It supported standards-based education ...
;
*
Accrediting local schools and school districts;
* Accrediting teacher and school administration education programs;
* Implementing federal education assistance programs, and ensuring that schools make reporting requirements under these programs; and
* Acting as a
rulemaking
In administrative law, rulemaking is the process that executive and independent agencies use to create, or ''promulgate'', regulations. In general, legislatures first set broad policy mandates by passing statutes, then agencies create more deta ...
body to implement state educational programs.
Founding
The Virginia State Board of Education was founded in 1810 when the state of Virginia established a "literary fund" (designed to fund public education throughout the state) and the board of education (at the time, called the Board of Trustees of the Literary Fund) placed in charged of it. The state constitution of 1869 significantly revamped not only the state's system of elementary and secondary education, but also established a state
Superintendent of Education
In the American education system, a superintendent or superintendent of schools is an administrator or manager in charge of a number of public schools or a school district, a local government body overseeing public schools. All school principa ...
and a new State Board of Education to replace the old "trustees."
Monroe, p. 729.
/ref> In 1901, yet another new Virginia constitution expanded the board's members from three to eight, and greatly expanded its powers.[Monroe, p. 730.](_blank)
/ref> In 1910, local agricultural schools were placed under the board's control.
References
Bibliography
*Monroe, Paul. ''A Cyclopedia of Education.'' New York: Macmillan, 1913.
*Russo, Charles J. and Mawdsley, Ralph D. ''Education Law.'' New York, N.Y.: Law Journal Press, 2002.
External links
Virginia State Board of Education Web site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Virginia State Board of Education
Public education in Virginia
State agencies of Virginia
Virginia