Ohio Department of Education

The Ohio Department of Education is based out of Columbus and is responsible for administering administrative and funding issues related to the State educational system, including both primary and secondary levels of public education. However, the Department does not administer higher education in the State.

The governing administrative body of the Ohio Department of Education is the Ohio State Board of Education, a 19-member body. The governing authorities of the Ohio Department of Education hold four-year terms, eight of whom are elected by the Ohio Governor. The main authority of the Ohio Department of Education is a Superintendent of Public Instruction appointed by the Board’s members. As of 2010, the administering Superintendent of the Ohio Department of Education was Deborah S. Delisle.

College and university education comes under the administrative purview of the Ohio Board of Regents as a whole, in addition to individuals boards of trustees.

The Ohio Department of Education, alternately, has administration over various kinds of testing programs provided in order to determine the level of performance of the State educational system’s various districts and individual schools. Among others, the Ohio Department of Education bears the responsibility for the Ohio Test of English Language Acquisition, or OTELA, the Ohio Graduation Test, or OGT, and the Ohio Achievement Test, or OAT. Among noted educational changes, the Ohio Department of Education adopted a formal policy against bullying in 2007.

The physical offices of the Ohio Department of Education can be located at 25 South Front Street and contacted toll-free by phone at (877) 644-6338.

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