State Board of Education
Members Nominated for Reappointment

On Jan. 5, Gov. Jon S. Corzine nominated three members of the State Board for reappointment, Arcelio Aponte, Josephine Hernandez and Ronald K. Butcher, Ph.D.

Arcelio Aponte has been a member of the board since 2005, and has served as its vice-president since 2006. He is the director of operations and management in the Economic Development department for the city of Newark. He lives in Piscataway.

Ronald K. Butcher, the president of the state board from 2007 to 2008 and the vice-president from 1999 to 2003, is an administrator at Rowan University. The Pitman resident joined the State Board in 1990.

Josephine Hernandez, from Fanwood, is the current president of the State Board. She was first appointed in 2004. Hernandez is vice president of enrollment management at Passaic County Community College, and was president of the Middle State Association of College Registrars and Officers of Admission from 2003-2004.

The New Jersey Board of Education has 13 members. These members serve without compensation for six-year terms. By law, at least three members of the State Board must be women, and no two members may be appointed from the same county.

The commissioner of education serves as both the secretary of the State Board and as its official agent for all purposes. The State Board also has a nonvoting student representative selected annually by the New Jersey Association of Student Councils.

The State Board adopts the administrative code, which sets the rules needed to implement state education law. Such rules cover the supervision and governance of the state’s 2,500 public schools, which serve 1.37 million students. In addition, the State Board reviews educational policies proposed by the commissioner and confirms Department of Education staff appointments made by the commissioner.

The nominees must be confirmed by the state Senate.

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