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Article 7 of the Education Law provides in part as follows:
§ 310. Appeals or petitions to commissioner of education and other proceedings. Any party conceiving himself aggrieved may appeal by petition to the commissioner of education who is hereby authorized and required to examine and decide the same; and the commissioner of education may also institute such proceedings as are authorized under this article. The petition may be made in consequence of any action:
1. By any school district meeting.
2. By any district superintendent and other officers, in forming or altering, or refusing to form or alter, any school district, or in refusing to apportion any school moneys to any such district or part of a district.
3. By a county treasurer or other distributing agent in refusing to pay any such moneys to any such district.
4. By the trustees of any district in paying or refusing to pay any teacher, or in refusing to admit any scholar gratuitously into any school or on any other matter upon which they may or do officially act.
5. By any trustees of any school library concerning such library, or the books therein, or the use of such books.
6. By any district meeting in relation to the library or any other matter pertaining to the affairs of the district.
6-a. By a principal, teacher, owner or other person in charge of any school in denying a child admission to, or continued attendance at, such school for lack of proof of required immunizations in accordance with section twenty-one hundred sixty-four of the public health law.
7. By any other official act or decision of any officer, school authorities, or meetings concerning any other matter under this chapter, or any other act pertaining to common schools.
§ 311. Powers of commissioner upon appeals or petitions, et cetera. The commissioner, in reference to such appeals, petitions or proceedings, shall have power:
1. To regulate the practice therein.
2. To determine whether an appeal shall stay proceedings, and prescribe conditions upon which it shall or shall not so operate.
3. To decline to entertain or to dismiss an appeal, when it shall appear that the appellant has no interest in the matter appealed from, and that the matter is not a matter of public concern, and that the person injuriously affected by the act or decision appealed from is incompetent to appeal.
4. To make all orders, by directing the levying of taxes or otherwise, which may, in his judgment, be proper or necessary to give effect to his decision.
§ 312. Filed papers and copies thereof. The commissioner shall file, arrange in the order of time, and keep in his office, so that they may be at all times accessible, all the proceedings on every appeal or petition to him under this article, including his decision and orders founded thereon; and copies of all such papers and proceedings, authenticated by him under his seal of office, shall be evidence equally with the originals.
Appeals in Special Cases
Reviewability of acts of district superintendents:
§ 2217. Appeals from acts of district superintendent. Appeals from the official acts of a district superintendent of schools or from his refusal or failure to act in any matter in which he may legally act, may be taken to the commissioner of education. All questions in controversy relating to the election of such district superintendent shall be determined by the commissioner of education on proper appeal. The provisions of article seven of this chapter shall apply to and govern such appeals and decisions therein.
Determination of disputes involving meetings or elections:
§ 2037. Determination of meeting or election disputes. All disputes concerning the validity of any district meeting or election or of any of the acts of the officers of such meeting or election shall be referred to the commissioner of education for determination and his decisions in the matter shall be final and not subject to review. The commissioner may in his discretion order a new meeting or election.
Determination of what constitutes ordinary contingent expenses:
§ 2024. Reference to commissioner of education. If any question shall arise as to what are ordinary contingent expenses the same may be referred to the commissioner of education, by a statement in writing, signed by one or more of each of the opposing parties upon the question, and the decision of the commissioner shall be conclusive.
Review of decisions of the New York City Board of Education in certain cases:
§ 2590-g. Powers and duties of the city board.
The city board shall advise the chancellor on matters of policy affecting the welfare of the city school district and its pupils. Except as otherwise provided by law, the board shall exercise no executive power and perform no executive or administrative functions. The board shall have the power and duty to:
. . .
3. Serve as the appeal board as provided in section twenty-five hundred ninety-1 of this article, and subject to such powers, duties and restrictions as were in effect before the effective date of this section; . . .
Enforcement
As an aid in the enforcement of the law and the decisions of the Commissioner of Education, section 306 of the Education Law provides as follows:
§ 306. Removal of school officers; withholding public money. 1. Whenever it shall be proved to his satisfaction that any trustee, member of a board of education, clerk, collector, treasurer, district superintendent, superintendent of schools or other school officer is a member of an organization listed as subversive by the board of regents pursuant to the provisions of section three thousand twenty-two of this chapter, or has been guilty of any willful violation or neglect of duty under this chapter, or any other act pertaining to common schools or other educational institution participating in state funds, or willfully disobeying any decision, order, rule or regulation of the regents or of the commissioner of education, said commissioner, after a hearing at which the school officer shall have the right of representation by counsel, may, by an order under his hand and seal, which order shall be recorded in his office, remove such school officer from his office.
2. Said commissioner of education may also withhold from any district or city its share of the public money of the state for willfully disobeying any provision of law or any decision, order or regulation as aforesaid.
Review of Hearings for Children with Handicapping Conditions
Article 89 of the Education Law provides in part as follows:
§ 4404(2). Review by state review officer. A state review officer of the education department shall review and may modify, in such cases and to the extent that the review officer deems necessary, in order to properly effectuate the purposes of this article, any determination of the impartial hearing officer relating to the determination of the nature of a child’s handicapping condition, selection of an appropriate special education program or service and the failure to provide such program and require such board to comply with the provisions of such modification. The commissioner shall adopt regulations governing the practice and procedure in such appeals to the state review officer; provided, however, that in no event shall any fee or charge whatsoever be imposed for any appeal taken pursuant to this subdivision. The state review officer is empowered to make all orders which are proper or necessary to give effect to the decision of the review officer.
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