State Board of Education

The DC State Board of Education was established on June 12, 2007, as part of the “District of Columbia Public Education Reform Amendment Act of 2007.” Please see the DC State Board of Education's By-laws [PDF] for a full description of all responsibilities. The Board consists of nine elected members. One is elected at large and there is one from each of the eight Wards of the District of Columbia. There is a President and Vice-President elected annually by the State Board members themselves.

The DC State Board of Education is responsible for advising the State Superintendent of Education on educational matters, including: state standards; state policies, including those governing special, academic, vocational, charter and other schools; state objectives; and state regulations proposed by the Mayor or the State Superintendent of Education.

The previous, now obsolete, DC Board of Education was charged with oversight of the District of Columbia Public Schools (DCPS). Their responsibilities were to advance educational standards, the Master Education Plan, the Master Facilities Plan and community priorities as they related to DCPS.

DC SBOE Responsibilities

The DC State Board of Education is responsible for approving the following state-level policies:

• State academic standards and ensure that standards meet the following qualifications: specify what children are expected to know and be able to do; contain coherent and rigorous content, encourage the teaching of advanced skills; and are updated on a regular basis.
• High school graduation requirements
• Standards for high school equivalence credentials
• The state accountability plan for the District of Columbia developed by the Chief State School Officer, pursuant to the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 ensuring that: (A) the plan includes a single statewide accountability system that will ensure all local education agencies make adequate yearly progress; and (B) the statewide accountability system included in the plan is based on academic standards, academic assessments, a standardized system of accountability across all local education agencies, and a system of sanctions and rewards that will be used to hold local education agencies accountable for student achievement.
• State policies for parental involvement 
• The rules for residency verification 
• The list of charter school accreditation organizations 
• The categories and format of the annual report card, pursuant to the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001
• Approve list of private placement accreditation organizations, pursuant to Uniform Per Student Funding Formula for Public Schools and Public Charter Schools and Tax Conformity Clarification Amendment Act of 1998