State education agency

A state education agency or state department of education is the state-level government organization within each U.S. state or territory responsible for education, including providing information, resources, and technical assistance on educational matters to schools and residents.

In all states but Hawaii, primary and secondary education (collectively known as K–12) are provided by school districts, while the state education agency handles only matters of statewide concern such as curriculum standards. In Hawaii and all inhabited federal territories, the state education agency or the equivalent territorial government agencies are responsible for directly operating primary and secondary schools.

States use different titles to refer to the executive of their state education agency, including; 34 states use one the two titles "Commissioner of Education" and "Superintendent of Public Instruction", and the remaining 16 use various combinations of secretary, superintendent, commissioner, or director; of education, public instruction, or schools.^[1] Twelve states choose the head of their education agency through an election, of which eight states hold partisan^[a] and four states hold nonpartisan^[b] elections. The 37 remaining states appoint their education agency executive, whether the appointment be done by the governor, state school board, legislature, or some combination of factors.^[c]