Education
Massachusetts Education
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Overview
Massachusetts is nationally recognized as a leader in public education. The Commonwealth ranks first in the nation on the National Assessment of Educational Progress and competes at the top internationally in reading, science, and math. That record comes from a structured two-tier system: the state sets standards and ensures accountability, while roughly 400 local districts run the schools and serve students every day.
Understanding who governs public education in Massachusetts, how authority is distributed, and how to engage with that system is fundamental civic knowledge for any student, parent, educator, or resident.
How Education Governance Works
Public education in Massachusetts operates through two tiers that work in parallel.
- State level: The Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) and the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education (BESE) set curriculum frameworks, standards, assessments, and accountability rules. They license educators, oversee adult learning programs, and administer federal education funds.
- Local level: Each of the Commonwealth’s roughly 400 school districts is governed by an elected school committee and led by a professional superintendent. Local districts implement state standards and operate schools day to day, with significant autonomy over instruction, staffing, and programming within state requirements.
The two tiers are connected. State mandates shape what local districts must do, while local communities provide the funding, leadership, and civic engagement that make schools work.
Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
DESE is the state agency responsible for overseeing public K–12 education across Massachusetts. It provides leadership, oversight, funding, support, and accountability for approximately 400 school districts serving close to one million public school students each year. The department also oversees programs serving roughly 20,000 adult learners annually.
DESE’s work is organized into nine areas: administration and finance, deeper learning, district support, educational options, instructional support, legal, planning and research, strategic initiatives, and student assessment.
Commissioner
Pedro Martinez
Pedro Martinez became the 25th Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education on July 1, 2025, and is the first Latino to hold the position. He came to Massachusetts from Chicago Public Schools, where he served as CEO from 2021 to 2025 and previously as Chief Financial Officer. He has more than two decades of experience in systems leadership, including 12 years as a superintendent in Nevada and San Antonio. The Commissioner is appointed by the Board of Elementary and Secondary Education and leads DESE’s approximately 450 employees.
Contact DESE
75 Pleasant Street, Malden, MA 02148
(781) 338-3000
Contact DESE Online
Key Responsibilities
- Curriculum frameworks: Sets learning standards for all public school subjects from pre-K through grade 12
- MCAS: Administers the Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System, the statewide testing program
- Educator licensing: Manages licensing for all public school teachers, administrators, and paraprofessionals
- School accountability: Rates districts and schools on a five-level system and can intervene in chronically underperforming districts
- Federal funds: Administers Title I, Title II, and Title III education funding
- Adult education: Oversees adult basic education, GED preparation, and ESOL programs statewide
Board of Elementary and Secondary Education
BESE is the governing board that sets education policy for the Commonwealth. It consists of 11 voting members: nine appointed by the Governor, the Secretary of Education, and one student representative — the president of the State Student Advisory Council, elected by peers — who holds full voting rights. Massachusetts is one of only a handful of states where a student serves as a full voting member on the state board of education.
The Board approves regulations and curriculum frameworks, sets graduation requirements, adopts the state assessment system, and appoints and evaluates the Commissioner of Elementary and Secondary Education. It also has authority to place chronically underperforming districts under state receivership.
Board Chair: Katherine Craven
How to Participate
BESE meetings are open to the public and include a public comment period. Meetings are normally held on the fourth Tuesday of every month. Members of the public, educators, and advocates regularly testify on curriculum, assessment, and policy issues.
Secretary of Education
Above DESE in the executive branch sits the Secretary of Education, a cabinet-level position appointed by the Governor. The Secretary directs the Executive Office of Education, which oversees all three of the Commonwealth’s education agencies — the Department of Early Education and Care, DESE, and the Department of Higher Education — as well as the University of Massachusetts system. The Secretary sits on the governing board of each education agency and serves as Governor Healey’s chief advisor on education policy. Setting the broader education agenda for the administration is the Secretary’s role; running DESE day to day is the Commissioner’s.
Secretary of Education: Dr. Stephen Zrike Jr.
Dr. Zrike brought nearly 30 years in public education to the role, most recently as Superintendent of Salem Public Schools, where he served from 2020 until his appointment in March 2026. Before Salem, he led Holyoke Public Schools as state-appointed receiver and superintendent, overseeing the turnaround of 11 chronically underperforming schools. He also served as Superintendent in Wakefield and held leadership roles in Boston and Chicago public schools, and began his career as a fifth-grade teacher in Andover. Dr. Zrike holds a bachelor’s degree in history from Dartmouth College and a master’s degree and doctorate in education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
The Civics Education Mandate
Chapter 296 of the Acts of 2018 (M.G.L. c. 71, Section 2) requires all Massachusetts public school students to complete a student-led civics project at both the 8th grade and high school level. This made Massachusetts one of the first states in the country to mandate active civic engagement as part of the K–12 curriculum.
DESE oversees implementation of this mandate, sets the framework that guides how schools run their civics projects, and provides resources for educators. The DESE Civics Project Guidebook, developed with educators and civic organizations across the state, is the primary tool teachers use to structure the project.
Massachusetts Public Schools by the Numbers
- ~400 public school districts
- ~1,700 public schools
- ~960,000 students in K–12
- ~72,000 licensed educators
- 20,000+ adult learners served annually through DESE programs
- First in the nation on NAEP in reading and mathematics
Local Education Governance
While DESE sets the framework, public education is delivered locally. Each of Massachusetts’s roughly 400 school districts is governed by an elected school committee and led by a professional superintendent.
School committees are elected bodies, usually five to seven members, that serve as the local board of trustees for public schools. They set local education policy, approve budgets, negotiate educator contracts, and hire and fire the superintendent. School committee meetings are public and open to all residents, making them the most direct point of civic engagement for education issues in any community.
Superintendents are the professional chief executive officers of local school districts, hired by the school committee. They manage day-to-day operations, lead instructional improvement, and represent the district to DESE. Unlike school committee members, superintendents are not elected; they are professional administrators.
Key Resources
- DESE WebsiteThe official home of the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education.
- About Commissioner MartinezBiography and background of DESE’s 25th commissioner.
- Board of Elementary and Secondary EducationMembers, meeting schedule, and agendas.
- Curriculum FrameworksMassachusetts learning standards for all subjects, pre-K through grade 12.
- School and District ProfilesData on every public school and district in Massachusetts.
- Superintendent LookupFind the superintendent for any Massachusetts school district.
See how education governance fits within the wider structure of Massachusetts government.