Research


Administrative History

During the 1930's, educators envisioned a comprehensive high school that would educate all children for work and life in a democracy. However, most central schools were not big enough to offer a full array of academic and vocational courses. In 1944, a Council on Rural Education, funded by farm organizations, recommended a "new type of rural supervisory district," responsible to school districts and responsive to needs of rural people. The result was the intermediate district law of 1948. While the intermediate districts were to be formed, the act provided for temporary boards of cooperative educational services (now called BOCES), which the New York State Education Department (NYSED) hoped would "get people working together across district lines" and provide shared educational services in rural areas. The intermediate districts never came into existence, but the BOCES proved to be popular with rural school districts and the general public, since they provided a wide range of educational services at reasonable cost, while maintaining a significant degree of local control over the programs offered by the BOCES. Today there are 37 BOCES, incorporating all school districts except for those in the "Big 5" cities (New York, Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse and Yonkers).

The position of district superintendent was created in 1910 through an amendment to Article 14 of the Education Law. It replaced the position of Commissioner of Schools, which had been an elective office, with a position that was appointed by supervisory district personnel (currently, the superintendent is appointed by the Board of Cooperative Educational Services in the supervisory district). The shift to an appointive office was designed to increase the level of professionalism and educational expertise of district administrators. While the superintendents are selected by local personnel, they are paid by the New York State Education Department, and answerable to the State Commissioner of Education. District superintendents act as the chief executive officer of the district BOCES, perform administrative and supervisory activities with districts, and perform special duties assigned by the Commissioner. In effect, they act as an intermediary between school districts and the State Education Department.