Research


Administrative History

The judicial power to interpret school laws was vested in the Superintendent of Common Schools in 1822, transferred to the Superintendent of Public Instruction upon the creation of that office in 1854, and transferred to the Commissioner of Education upon creation of the State Education Department in 1904. Under Section 310 of the Education Law, any person can appeal the official actions of any local school official to the Commissioner, whose decision is a binding interpretation of the laws involved not normally reviewable in any court. (Court review is possible through initiation of a proceeding under Article 78 of the Civil Practice Law and Rules providing for review of judicial, quasi-judicial, or administrative determinations by a body or officer made pursuant to statute.) In addition, Education Law §306 allows the Commissioner of Education to remove a trustee, member of a board of education and certain other school officers for wilful misconduct or neglect of duty.

Procedures in appeals cases are established by the Commissioner of Education and published by the Counsel's Office in "Regulations of the Commissioner of Education Relating to Appeals and Other Proceedings Before the Commissioner," Handbook 1. These regulations are also found in Parts 275, 276 and 277 of the Commissioner's Regulations. Briefly, the appeals process is as follows: A written appeal or petition must be filed with the Commissioner within thirty days of the action being contested. The respondent must file an answer within ten days. Additional pleadings by either party may be allowed or required by the Commissioner. All pleadings must be served on the opposite party and proof of service filed with the Commissioner. Either party may submit legal briefs and exhibits in support of its case, and other interested parties may submit memoranda of law as amicus curiae. The Commissioner may allow oral argument of a case if requested by either party. Within thirty days of the Commissioner's decision either party may apply for reopening of the decision, and the Commissioner may dismiss an appeal at any stage if the petition is unclear or the issues involved have become academic. The burden of proof in an appeal to the Commissioner rests with the person bringing the petition; they must demonstrate a clear legal right to the relief requested and must establish all the facts upon which he or she seeks relief.

Between circa 1933 and 1964, appeals from determinations of the Motion Picture Division were made to the Board of Regents. A Regents' committee heard such appeals, and prepared a determination for issuance by the Chancellor. Texts or abstracts of the Regents' decisions are published in the Department Reports of the State of New York through 1958 and the Judicial Decisions of the Commissioner of Education starting in 1962.