Selecting Members of the Board of Regents

The Board of Regents predates the approval of the Constitution, established in 1784 Board members included John Jay and Alexander Hamilton. Over 200 plus years the Board has gone through many changes and currently is a seventeen member Board “elected” by both houses of the state legislature for five year terms. New York State is divided into thirteen Judicial Districts, each New York City borough is a judicial district and a Regent represents each judicial district and four Regents are at-large. The Board selects a chair, called the chancellor and the Board hires a commissioner who serves as the CEO, the chief executive officer. The Board meets monthly, from September to July on a Monday and Tuesday in Albany. The Board members are unpaid and unstaffed.

The commissioner and the chancellor set the agenda of the meetings. The meetings begin with a presentation by State Education staff on a particular topic and occasionally a presentation by a school district or a school followed by committee meetings. The chancellor assigns each member a committee(s) and appoints the chair(s) of the committees. The committee may discuss a regulation or a change in regulation, almost always approves the resolution by vote, the resolution goes out to public comment, usually for 45 days, back to the Board for final approval.

Occasionally the commissioner will select a Blue Ribbon Commission, recently High School Graduation Measures including the question of the Regents Examinations, the process began in the fall of 2019 and the final report is still pending.

Members cannot add items to the agenda.

See the February meeting agenda here and watch the archived video of the meeting.

The state legislature is in the process of filling six positions, two are vacancies (Syracuse and Brooklyn) and the other four are Staten Island, Albany and two at-large, the incumbents have applied. There are no qualifications, anyone can apply and all applicants are interviewed, the many hours of interviews are recorded and available, I watched hours, many of the candidates are retired or former teachers/administrators, a few community activists and for the at-large seat set aside for one of the professions a number of doctors.

Each applicant is allotted three minutes followed by questions from the member of the legislature attending the interviews. Assembly chair of the Education Committee, Michael Benedetto chairs the interviews, Shelly Mayer the Senate Education chair attends along with the Higher Education Committee chairs and other electeds if the interview concerns their districts. The questions dealt with  the Blue Ribbon Commission Report, whether the applicant supported or opposed keeping the Regents exams, most of the candidates waffled, keeping “high standards” as well as multiple pathways (which already exist), the governor’s removal of “save harmless” provisions in her budget and for the New York City applications their views on Mayoral Control. 

The practice, not written anywhere, the electeds from the area encompassing the Judicial District convene, behind closed doors, agree on a candidate and pass along to the Speaker who usually, not always, brings the name before a joint meeting of the legislature for approval.

“Backroom politics,” maybe, after all this is the New York State legislature.

At least two, possibly six new members of the Board of Regents, and, in the very near future the Graduation Measures proposal will be before the Board. If the Board approves, I suspect the Board will approve, it goes out for public comment, probably thousands of comments, and back to State Education staff who can amend or not and back to  the Board for final approval.

All the Board meetings are webcast and archived

Hanging out there are major issues:

*Declining school enrollments and the Fair Student Funding formula

*Declining enrollments in CUNY and SUNY colleges

*Declining enrollments in teacher education programs

*Untidy relationships between the Governor, the legislatures and the Board of Regents/State Education Department

The seventeen unpaid, unstaffed members of the Board of Regents have an enormous responsibility; however without a staff are dependent on State Education Department staff.

*Is the structure of the Board of Regents antiquated?

*Should the governor play a role, perhaps, by appointing some members to the Board?

 *Should Board members receive a modest stipend and a staff(er)?

Over the more than 200 years the Board of Regents has undergone many changes, perhaps it time for the legislature to set up a process to review the current structure

UPDATE: The legislatures re-elected the three incumbents and three new members - see presser https://nyassembly.gov/Press/?sec=story&story=109393