Describe the powers and authority of the State Board of Education and local school boards and what responsibilities they have for the administration and operation of schools. The State Board of Education governs how education is directed within the state. They create policies that cover a variety of legal issues such as health and safety, minimum teacher licensing requirements, graduation requirements, rights of students with disabilities, and student disciplinary practices. State school boards have six legal powers including certification standards for teachers and administrators, high school graduation requirements, state testing programs, accreditation standards for school districts, and preparation programs for teachers and administrators, approve the school budget state educational agency and develop rules and regulations for the administration of state programs. Local school boards must know and fully understand the basics of legal responsibilities and restrictions. These responsibilities and restrictions include overseeing the operation of local public schools. The school board is held responsible for creating policies, rules and regulations that provide direction for the administration and operation of schools. The school board is perceived as a corporate entity, meaning that an individual board member has no more power than the overall power given to the board by the legislature. Therefore, individual school board members do not have the freedom to formulate policies or act independently of the school board as a whole. School board members are known to be public school officials, and the legislature gives them powers that help them fulfill their responsibilities. Describe the organization… in the middle of the paper… hey, they would implement it. This type of feedback can help inform policy. It is critical that school administrators know their district's policies because in a court of law, the question that will be asked is whether or not the school/district followed its own policies/rules. Explain how administrators and school leaders stay current with legislative and policy changes at the national, state, and local levels. School leaders stay current on legislative changes through their relationship with locally licensed school attorneys and their membership in the National School Board Association which provides school board policies to follow with updated laws that schools can adopt each year. Additionally, school leaders can find online resources such as School Law Blog, Findlaw, which can provide them with recent court decisions online to keep them updated on changes in laws and statutes.