YOU WERE LOOKING FOR: Rockland County Civil Service Exams
Until the board was reorganized under the unification act of , nineteen Regents were elected for life terms by joint ballot of the Legislature; in addition, the governor and lieutenant governor served as Regents. Since the University of the State of...
During the later nineteenth century the Regents developed educational standards for academies and high schools statewide, through use of the Regents examinations and syllabi. These innovations were discussed and promoted by the University...
In the Legislature created a Department of Public Instruction, headed by a Superintendent elected jointly by the Senate and Assembly for a three-year renewable term. The new Department had a small staff which carried on the work of advising local school authorities, allocating state aid, and preparing reports to the Legislature. The responsibilities of the Regents and the state officials in charge of the common schools overlapped. The Regents had a vague statutory authority to oversee all education in the state. The latter official shared with the Regents the responsibility to inspect and report on academies.
The rapid development of public high schools after the s caused administrative confusion. The high schools were operated by union free or city school districts, which the law made subject to visitation and inspection by the Superintendent of Public Instruction. However, the academic programs of all secondary schools were under general supervision of the Regents. Unification of elementary, secondary, and higher education under one administration was considered and rejected by the constitutional conventions of and , and proposed in legislative bills from time to time. Outright competition between the Regents and the Department of Public Instruction became intense and public during the s, when the Superintendents of Public Instruction lobbied to have all secondary education placed under their control. But during the same decade the University's activist program under Secretary Melvil Dewey won the Regents many new supporters.
In the annual University convocation requested Governor Theodore Roosevelt to name a special commission to study unification. The commission's report proposed that a new department of education succeed the Department of Public Instruction and include the University, and that the Regents be appointed for fixed terms by the Governor with consent of the Senate. A joint legislative committee in recommended that elementary and secondary education be entrusted to a three-member commission, consisting of one Regent and two other members appointed by each of the two major parties in the Legislature. Governor Benjamin Odell and a Republican legislative caucus drew up their own, very different unification bill. This bill became law, establishing an Education Department, effective April 1, The new Department was headed by a Commissioner of Education, appointed by and responsible to the Regents.
Andrew S. Draper, who had previously served two terms as Superintendent of Public Instruction, was named the first Commissioner of Education. Regents were to be elected by joint ballot of the Legislature to serve fixed terms, initially eleven years; some of the sitting Regents were continued in office. The board consisted of one Regent from each Supreme Court judicial district. Later on members-at-large were added three after , four after Regents' terms were set to equal in years the total number of Regents, resulting in one vacancy annually the term reached fifteen years in , when the twelfth judicial district was established.
The Legislature reduced the renewable terms of office to seven years in , and to five years in , citing a need for increased accountability of the Regents. Today the University of the State of New York embraces all the elementary, secondary, and higher education institutions in the state, the latter including libraries, museums, and other institutions of learning. The Board of Regents is the only state board of education having authority over all educational activity at all levels, including private and public, non-profit and for-profit institutions. The board does much of its work through its standing committees, four of which correspond to the major offices of the Department, plus committees on professional practice; administration, law, and legislation; and ethics. The full Board of Regents meets monthly except August and since has held some meetings outside of Albany.
The board has slowly become more diverse in its composition. The first woman Regent was appointed in , the first Italian-American in , the first African-American in , the first Puerto Rican-American in The unification act of made the Commissioner the "executive officer" of the Regents. He was given the power to organize the Department and appoint deputies as needed, and to supervise elementary and secondary education a law extended this responsibility to higher education as well.
The Regents retained their existing authority, including the legislative power to adopt rules and regulations to implement the laws relating to the University. Commissioner Draper believed that "bodies legislate, individuals execute," and under his strong leadership the University, in effect, became part of the Department. Sexton tended to make the University the primary administrative unit. However, the constitutional and statutory reorganization of state agencies in reestablished the Education Department as the administrative embodiment of the University of the State of New York. The Commissioner of Education is "president" of the University, that is, chief executive officer of the state's education system.
The Board of Regents elects a chancellor, who presides over its meetings and appoints its committees. The Regents appoint the Commissioner, who is "chief administrative officer" of the Department. They also appoint an executive deputy commissioner and approve the Commissioner's appointments of deputy, associate, and assistant commissioners; they may divide the department into divisions and bureaus, as recommended by the Commissioner.
The legal framework for education in New York is established by the state Constitution and by statutes passed by the Legislature. However, state law vests in the Regents and the Commissioner important legal functions. The Regents act as a quasi-legislative body to implement state law and policy relating to education. Their early "instructions" to academies and colleges began to be printed for distribution in and were compiled periodically as the "University Manual.
In a revision of the Regents rules in , a clear distinction was made, for the first time, between those general rules and Commissioner's regulations, which are administrative rules for executing and enforcing the Regents rules and the statutes relating to education. Since the Commissioner's regulations have been published in book or loose-leaf format. The laws relating to education have been recodified only three times in the past century , , , but the Education Law has been amended more often than any other title in the Consolidated Laws. The sovereign authority to grant a charter of incorporation is ultimately vested in the Legislature.
In the Legislature empowered the Regents to incorporate academies and colleges. This statutory authority was strengthened in and , and extended in to libraries, museums, and other non-academic institutions of higher education. Since the Regents have also approved the incorporation, under general laws, of entities having an educational purpose. The Regents exercise a quasi-judicial function when they issue decisions and orders in professional discipline cases heard by the various professional boards.
The Commissioner of Education has the extraordinary power, not often employed, to issue an order withholding state aid or removing a school district officer or board, when there has been a wilful neglect of duty or violation of the law. The Commissioner regularly acts in a judicial capacity when he hears and decides appeals arising from official acts or decisions of school district meetings, boards, or officers. The Legislature first conferred this authority on the Superintendent of Common Schools in , and the current statute dates essentially from The intent of the law is to provide a relatively simple administrative method of resolving disputes over fine points of school law, and relieve the courts of this business. During the nineteenth century appeals to the Superintendent often concerned issues such as school district boundaries, conduct of district meetings, and teacher contracts.
Appeals could also involve civil rights. For example, in a number of cases the Superintendents of Common Schools, starting in , barred sectarian religious exercises in public schools. Commissioner Draper in upheld the right of a woman to return to her teaching job after giving birth the New York City Board of Education had charged her with "gross negligence by being absent to have a baby". During recent years appeals to the Commissioner have typically concerned placement orders for children with disabilities, disciplinary proceedings against teachers or students, and irregular actions of school boards and district meetings. The statute governing appeals originally declared that the decision was final and conclusive. However, the courts repeatedly held that this remarkable power was not unlimited, and that an appeal to the courts was possible if the decision was arbitrary or contrary to law.
In the Legislature, displeased with several school integration decisions by Commissioner Nyquist, amended the law to explicitly permit appeals to the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court from Commissioner's decisions, under Article 78 of the Civil Practice Law and Rules. Decisions of the Commissioner have been published since The separate volumes of Education Department Reports commenced in During the mid-nineteenth century the Deputy Superintendent of Public Instruction served as legal counsel. There was a staff attorney "law clerk" after the s. A law division was set up in the Education Department in During the s and '30s the Counsel generally served as Deputy Commissioner. The Counsel's office provides legal advice and services regarding Commissioner's regulations, orders, and appeals; Regents' actions and rules; and pending legislation, contracts, court proceedings, and Department operations.
Department Organization, Management, and Planning. The great monument to Commissioner Andrew S. Draper is the Education Building, completed in , whose funding he secured. Draper organized the Department in ways that had a lasting impact. As established in , the Department had three assistant commissioners, for elementary, secondary, and higher education. There were seven divisions -- accounts, compulsory attendance, examinations, inspections, law, records, and statistics.
In addition, it is our policy, in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, to provide equal employment opportunity to participate in and receive any benefits, services programs and activities. Military personnel or Saturday religious observers who need special testing arrangements must note this on their applications. Persons with disabilities who require special test-taking accommodations also must note their specific needs on their applications. Civil Service Examinations may be either open to the general public or limited, if indicated, to a promotional field of employees in Rockland County government or in one or more of the Rockland County Civil Service jurisdictions towns, villages, school districts, and special districts, etc. Civil Service examinations test a candidate's qualifications for a particular Civil Service title.
If you are interested in taking an examination, click on the examination title and review the examination announcement that provides you with information specific to that examination, including the scheduled exam date, minimum requirements required, salary and location s of positions, and last filing dates for participation in the examination. The Rockland County Department of Personnel continues to strive to improve all aspects of the Civil Service examination process. Towards this end, effective with the September Examinations, all communications and correspondence i. We believe that this approach to communicating with candidates will enable the Rockland County Department of Personnel to expedite the dissemination of information regarding Civil Service examinations to candidates. Candidates applying for a Civil Service examination beginning in September of must make sure to enter their email address accurately on their application and if their email has changed, to notify our office immediately.
Please direct any questions you may have regarding this change to the Rockland County Department of Personnel at or email questions to rcexams co. Examinations may be administered in a variety of ways, including written exams, performance exams e. It is recommended that you print a copy of the examination announcement to which you are applying. To apply to take a Civil Service examination, you must complete a Rockland County Application for Examination or Employment and file within the announced filing period.
You may apply in one of three ways: by submitting a signed, hard copy original application blue application form available at the Rockland County Department of Personnel; by completing a type-able PDF "application form", signing it and submitting it by mail or in person to the Rockland County Department of Personnel, or by applying on-line, the "Apply On-line" link next the appropriate examination announcement. The fee must be submitted with your application s and must be received in the Rockland County Department of Personnel by the Last Filing Date as indicated on the appropriate examination announcement.
If submitting a paper application make check or money order payable to the Rockland County Commissioner of Finance. Write your name, last four digits of your social security number and the examination number s on the check of money order. Cash will not be accepted. Application filing fees are non-refundable. We urge you to compare your qualifications carefully with the minimum qualifications indicated on the examination announcement and file only for those examinations for which you are clearly qualified and intend to take. If you are disqualified from or fail to appear for the examination, your fee is not refunded. If your application is received without the required fee, your application will be disapproved. Should you wish to appeal the disqualification, you must submit the required fee to the Rockland County Department of Personnel within five 5 business days from the date of the disapproval letter.
Application filing fee may be waived for those candidates who are unemployed and primarily responsible for the support of a household. All claims for application filing fee waivers are subject to verification. Candidates interested in this waiver must submit a Request for Application Fee Waiver and Certification form with their application by the Last Filing Date indicated on the appropriate examination announcement. The applicant should make sure to answer all questions in detail and insure that the application is complete in all respects including number and title of the examination. We do not acknowledge receipt of applications but all applicants will be either admitted to the examination applied for or be informed of the reason for disqualification. If applying by mail, completed applications must be postmarked no later than the last filing date. If applying in person, completed applications must be received in the Department of Personnel no later than 5 p.
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