Verona Department of Education

The Verona Department of Education (VDOE) is a branch of the state government of Verona in Cartadania responsible for the regulation of public education. The agency is headquartered in Verona Frond Six Building in the state capital, Aurimá, along with various other branches and offices of the state government. Formed in 1906 to centralize the state's education system and authority, the Verona Department of Education has the largest education responsibility in the country, second only to the federal equivalent. It apportions funds and sets standards for the education of it's 12.1 million students, a figure larger than the population of twenty-five individual states, and the eight smallest states combined.

Gabriel Figueiredo, a member of the Jupiter Independent School District's board of trustees, was appointed Superintendent of Education by Verona Governor Alícia Rosa on 8 February 2026.

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 multi-system organization that encompasses the four-system schools throughout the state. It serves as a regulatory authority and reports directly to the state and, though sometimes thought of as a part of the Department of Education, it is a distinct and separate sister entity.

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. In spite of this, Verona school districts still receive the bulk of funding from the state directly and from the federal Department of Education.

In 2002, the Verona education system underwent a major revision, known as the Verona Instructional System Alignment (VISA), that restructured the grading system, instructional timeframe, curricula, and pipeline for primary and secondary education. The changes went into effect on 3 January 2002, in preparation for school systems to migrate to this model when school begins (typically the third monday in January), but were authorized in January 2000. Alongside VISA was the Verona Post-Secondary Alignment (VAPSA), which only established a system by which schools can admit students on an academic basis and simultaneously eliminated the cost of attendance for baccalaureate programs, the cost of which shifted to a tax-funded model with funding from the federal government. VAPSA also reinstated the mandatory requirement that all teachers have a masters degree, which is now funded by the state as well.

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 private schools. It is also responsible for the safety of students. However, it does not have any jurisdiction over parochial schools (whether or not accredited), and unlike in a few other states and several countries, home schooling is illegal. All 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 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.

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.

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

Commonwealth Board of Education
The Verona Commonwealth Board of Education is the governing and policy-making body of the Verona Department of Education. It sets AP-12 education policy in the areas of standards, recommended instructional materials, and accountability. The Board adopts textbooks for grades K-8 via statewide teacher input, adopts regulations to implement legislation, and has authority to amend and modify the Education Standards. These standards are designed to encourage the highest achievement of every student, by defining the knowledge, concepts, and skills that students should acquire at each grade level in addition to recommended supplementary areas (known as primary and secondary focii). The Board of Education has thirteen members, including one student member, all appointed by the Governor of Verona. The student member is selected from a group of three students nominated by the board.

Standardized tests
Prior to 2002, Verona assessed student performance in the elementary school and secondary school grades via the Verona Education Standards Assessment (VESA), administered at the end of each year beginning in Grade 4. Beginning in January 2002, Verona completely eliminated the VESA and instead opted for a model where teachers formulate their own grading systems for the students similar to collegiate systems, although with oversight from various superior bodies (e.g., principals, directs of primary and secondary education, district superintendents, and VDOE review board). The Verona Education system as a whole underwent a major overhaul in 2004 that marked the end of an era.

Education performance rating
The Department of Education maintains a five-tier rating system based on academic accountability from end-of-curriculum testing (Grade 5, 8, and 12), though it is currently undergoing a revision to better reflect the state's instructional model. 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