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County Offices of Education
There are 58 county offices of education that provide services to the state’s school
districts. The county offices have elected governing boards and are administered by
elected or appointed county superintendents.
The county superintendent is responsible for examining and approving school district
budgets and expenditures. With the passage of Assembly Bill 1200 (1991), the county
superintendent has additional powers to enforce sound budgeting to ensure the fiscal
integrity of the district. The superintendent is also responsible for calling school district
elections and assisting with school district emergencies by providing necessary
services.
County offices of education support school districts by performing the tasks that can be
done more efficiently and economically at the county level. The county offices provide
or help formulate new curricula, staff development and training programs, and new
instructional procedures; design business and personnel systems; and perform many
other services to meet changing needs and requirements. When economic or technical
conditions make county or regional services most appropriate for students, county
offices provide a wide range of services, such as special and vocational education,
programs for youths at risk of failure, and instruction to youths in juvenile detention
facilities.
Local Control
Although the California public schools system is a statewide system under the policy
direction of the Legislature, more local responsibility is legally granted to school districts
and county education officials than to other government entities and officials.
Statutes relating to school districts, county boards of education, and county
superintendents of schools operate differently from any other California statutes.
Because the plenary power to make state policy and law rests with the Legislature, the
general rule of law is that an agency of government is permitted to do only that which is
authorized by statute; it cannot do or undertake any program or activity simply because
it is not prohibited. In 1972, however, the voters amended the California Constitution. As
a result, the general rule has been altered only for school districts. Thus, laws relating to
local schools occupy a unique constitutional position.
Under this “permissive education code,” as long as a statute does not prohibit the
program or activity and it is consistent with the purposes for which school districts are
established, it can be undertaken. In other words, it is constitutionally unnecessary to
enact any statutes that merely allow or permit school districts, at their discretion, to do
something.
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