Susan Arbetter is reporting for State of Politics district superintendents, the chief executive officers of individual Boards of Cooperative Educational Services, or BOCES, will play a central role as schools begin to reopen in the coming months, according to former State Education Commissioner MaryEllen Elia. “State Ed is going to have to use the expertise of the district superintendents who are, really at this time, a godsend for State Ed, and an extension of the work that needs to be done,” Elia said. Elia left State Ed in September 2019; she is now a senior fellow at the International Center for Leadership in Education, a division of the learning company Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. “This is a very challenging time for all states across the country. And I, because I was at State Ed as a commissioner, I know the difficulties that New York is facing and I also know the quality of great people there as well as in the educators across the state, in all of our districts.” Elia believes that because Governor Andrew Cuomo has taken a regional approach to reopening the state economically, that district superintendent, who also serve regionally, will play a key role. Elia also believes that the governor’s steady hand during the pandemic will attract some of the best candidates in the nation to apply for her old job. Read the full story at nystateofpolitics [dot] com.