John Hildebrand is reporting for Newsday the state Board of Regents announced July 16, the appointment of Beth Berlin, executive deputy commissioner of the state Education Department, will assume the role of acting commissioner, effective September 1. Berlin has served in a leadership position at the department for six years; she will succeed Commissioner MaryEllen Elia. Elia, 70, this week announced she will leave Aug. 31, to join a national firm that specializes in helping districts with school turnaround plans. Regents Chancellor Betty Rosa and Vice Chancellor T. Andrew Brown described Berlin as “a compassionate, capable and effective leader” in a joint statement about her assignment. Berlin, 48, served as acting commissioner once before, during the first six months of 2015 after then-Commissioner John B. King Jr. left for a position with the U.S. Education Department. Before working in the Education Department, she served as executive deputy commissioner of the state Office of Temporary Disability Assistance. Prior to that, she was commissioner of the Albany County Department of Social Services. Elia announced her resignation just hours after she and Rosa outlined an ambitious plan for revamping the state’s graduation standards. The effort was to be launched in September, with the appointment of a blue-ribbon commission that ultimately would recommend changes in the graduation rules. Read the full story in Newsday.