About Us

What This Site Is For

U.S. K-12 public education runs on three layers — federal, state, and local — and the public-facing entry points are different at each level. The U.S. Department of Education sets some federal standards and enforces civil rights through its Office for Civil Rights. Each state has a State Board of Education (or Board of Regents in New York) that sets academic standards, graduation requirements, and accountability frameworks for that state. And every local school district has an elected or appointed school board that governs the district under state law. Add 13,000+ school districts, every state’s open-meetings act, and federal laws like FERPA, IDEA, ESSA, Title IX, and Section 504 — and finding the right office for what you need becomes a research project on its own.

boardofeducations.org/ is the practical reference. We don't just list agencies — we explain what each one does, what's on the other side of each portal, what the meeting agendas look like, what the public-comment rules are, and which complaint route applies to which problem. For every state we cover, you get manually verified links to the right official source plus a step-by-step walkthrough that has been tested against the live portal.

We are completely independent. We are not affiliated with the U.S. Department of Education, the National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE), the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), the National School Boards Association (NSBA), any state board of education, any state Department of Education, or any school district.

The Three Layers — Federal, State, Local

Most parent and citizen questions about K-12 education turn on getting to the right layer:

What You’ll Find on Each State Page

For every U.S. state, the page is structured as a step-by-step practical guide:

• State Board of Education — official URL, member composition (elected, appointed, hybrid), term lengths, meeting schedule, public-comment procedure, current chair
• State Department of Education — official URL, commissioner/superintendent name, key divisions (Special Education, Civil Rights, Accountability, Curriculum, Educator Licensing)
• Academic standards — current state standards framework, graduation requirements, assessment program (state test name, administering agency)
• Local school board procedures — how local boards are elected, term lengths, recall procedures, candidacy requirements
• Open meetings act — the state’s specific statute (Brown Act, Open Meetings Act, Sunshine Law, etc.) with the citation, posting requirements, and public-comment rules
• Public records procedure — how to file a state public-records request for school board records, district policies, meeting recordings, etc.
• Special education routing — the state’s IDEA Part B office, due-process complaint procedure, mediation availability
• Civil rights routing — Title IX coordinator at the state level, OCR regional office for that state, state human rights commission
• Accreditation — the regional accreditor recognized in the state (Cognia, etc.) and state-level accreditation framework
• Educator licensing — entry point for teacher certification, complaints against educators, license verification

How We Find and Verify — The Seven-Step Process

1. Identify the right authoritative source. We start with the State Board of Education or state Department of Education — confirmed against USA.gov’s directory of state agencies and the U.S. Department of Education’s State Contacts list.
2. Verify the URL is current. State agency portals get migrated, redirected, or replaced. We click through every link before publication and confirm the destination is the actual page, not a generic state homepage.
3. Locate the live procedure or document. For meeting agendas, we check that the agenda-posting page actually loads and shows the most recent meetings. For complaint forms, we confirm the current form is downloadable.
4. Document the steps from the actual interface. Walkthroughs are written from the on-screen labels and field names — quoted verbatim where we describe them.
5. Cross-check the legal framework. For procedures governed by statute (open-meetings, public records, IDEA, Title IX), we cite the statute by name and section.
6. Note current procedural details, fees (rare in this niche), processing times, and form numbers. Captured with a “last reviewed” date.
7. Editor sign-off. A second editor reviews the page end-to-end before it goes live.

The Federal Layer — Key Sources

Who This Site Is For

• Parents and guardians — finding meeting agendas, filing IDEA complaints, understanding Title IX rights, requesting records
• Students — understanding their rights under FERPA, Section 504, Title IX, and First Amendment in schools
• Educators — orienting to a new state’s licensing structure, accountability framework, or curriculum standards
• School board candidates and elected officials — understanding state-specific candidacy rules, open-meetings obligations, and ethics requirements
• Journalists and researchers — finding verified primary sources for an education-policy story
• Education advocates — orienting newcomers to the layered K-12 governance system
• Attorneys and paralegals — quick orientation to a state’s open-meetings law or public-records procedure
• Citizens — wanting to attend a school board meeting or review a school district’s budget

What We Don’t Do

• We don’t represent any state Board of Education, state Department of Education, school district, or the U.S. Department of Education
• We don’t accept, file, investigate, or resolve civil rights complaints, IDEA disputes, FERPA complaints, Title IX complaints, or any other complaint — those go to the appropriate official body
• We don’t host student records, transcripts, IEP documents, or any other FERPA-protected information
• We don’t provide legal advice — for IDEA disputes, Title IX matters, or school discipline cases, consult a licensed attorney in your state
• We don’t endorse candidates for school board, superintendent, or any other education office
• We don’t sell your data — see Privacy Policy for the full position under CCPA/CPRA, the Texas TDPSA, the Florida Digital Bill of Rights (FDBR), and other state privacy laws

How We Pay for the Site

boardofeducations.org/ is funded by display advertising. Editorial content — verified official links, walkthroughs, procedure descriptions — is never altered to favor any advertiser. State Board of Education and state Department of Education portals always come first on every state page. The full position is on our Editorial Policy and Disclaimer.

Corrections and Feedback

Education agency portals get migrated. State boards change membership, chairs, and meeting schedules. Statutes get amended. Form numbers change. If you spot something on the site that doesn’t match the current portal — a redirected URL, an outdated procedure, a wrong meeting day — please email us. Reader-reported corrections are our priority queue and get a response within seven business days.