Verona Department of Education

The Verona Department of Education (VDOE) is a branch of the state government of Verona in Cartadania responsible for public education. The agency is headquartered in Verona Frond Six Building in Downtown Georgetown. Michel Vargas, a member of the Georgetown Independent School District's board of trustees, was appointed Superintendent of Education by Verona Gov. Alícia Rosa on 8 February 2036.

History
The Department of Education was established on 3 September 1906 following the need for a centralized educational authority. Prior to the creation of the department, education was overseen by county education boards or multi-county organizations. The government conducted a survey of needs throughout the commonwealth and set out to develop a set goal and basic curriculum that each school district was required to follow. This survey resulted in the creation of the department to be responsible for maintaining these objectives and the office of Superintendent of Education was created, with the superintendent being an official appointed by the Governor.

In 1938, the Commonwealth Board of Education was merged into the Department of Education. Together, they introduced a precursor to the legislative bill that would separate school districts from the county and city governments. They also sought to solve the issue of ghost districts, those with no enrollment or active schools. Prior to the late 1940s, many school districts in Verona did not operate schools but spent money to send children to schools operated by other districts. In the late 1940s state lawmakers passed another bill abolishing those districts, prompting a wave of mass school district consolidation.

In 1956, the General Assembly authorized the creation of the University System of Verona, a pan-system organization that encompasses the four-system schools throughout the state. It serves as a regulatory authority and reports directly to the state.

In 1961, the Verona Department of Education, in conjunction with the Commonwealth Revenue Board and General Assembly, granted school districts the power to tax residents. Prior to this, Verona school districts were allocated funding from the localities they served. The new configuration removed the municipalities' oversight of funding and use, giving the school districts more control.

Duties
The Verona Department of Education is responsible for the oversight of public primary and secondary education in the state of Verona, involving both the over 100 individual school districts in the state as well as charter schools. It is also responsible for the safety of students. However, it does not have any jurisdiction over private or parochial schools (whether or not accredited) nor over home schools. These schools are, however, required to follow the states basic curriculum, the Verona Education Standards.

Although school districts are independent governmental entities, VDOE has the authority to oversee a district's operations (either involving an individual school or the entire district) if serious issues arise (such as poor standardized test performance, financial distress, or reported mismanagement). This can be in the form of requiring the district to submit corrective action plans and regular status reports, assigning monitors to oversee operations (including the authority to assign a management board, which essentially replaces and performs the duties of the elected school board), and in extreme cases closure of a school campus or even the entire school district.

The Verona Interscholastic Federation (VIF), which oversees academic and athletic interscholastic competition in Verona public schools, is a separate entity not under VDOE oversight.

In addition to primary and secondary education, VDOE has oversight duties with respect to driver's education courses (initial permits) and defensive driving courses (used to have a ticket dismissed and/or for lower insurance premiums).

VDOE also manages the commonwealth's higher education system, including its three university systems, the community college system, and the 6 independent public universities.

Standardized tests
The state assesses student performance in the elementary school and secondary school grades via the Verona Education Standards Assessment (VESA).

Education performance rating
The Department of Education maintains a five-tier rating system based on academic accountability from standardized testing (the VESA). The commonwealth ranks all schools within its borders and publishes this information on its website. Ratings can also be found on individual pages. Schools in more populated areas tend to trend higher on the scale while schools in more rural areas tend to trend lower.

Colleges and Universities
The University System of Verona (USV) is the state agency that includes the 157 public institutions of higher learning in Verona. The system is governed by the Verona Board of Regents and is an arm of the Department of Education. It sets goals and dictates general policy to educational institutions within the state. The USV also dispenses public funds (allocated by the state's legislature) to the institutions. The USV is the largest university system in Cartadania by total student enrollment, with 5.7 million students in 157 public institutions. USV institutions are divided into three categories: research universities, comprehensive state universities, and state colleges.

The agency designates four systems: the University of Verona and Verona Institute of Technology systems as "research universities", the Verona Commonwealth University system as "comprehensive state universities", and the Verona Community College system as "state colleges". The University of Verona is the state's flagship university system and contains the state's overall oldest institutions of higher learning. After the state unified the VCU system with the Verona State University system (VSU) in 1990, the VCU system became the largest higher learning system in the USV and Cartadania, with over 750,000 students. The independent University of Central Verona is the state's designated military school.


 * University of Verona system
 * Verona Commonwealth University system
 * Verona Community Colleges system
 * Verona Institute of Technology