Colorado Department of Education

**Overview** The Colorado Department of Education (CDE) provides leadership, resources, support and accountability to the state’s *178 school districts, 1,927 schools, over 55,000 teachers and over 4,100 administrators to help them build capacity to meet the needs of the state’s approximately 883,264 public school students. CDE also provides services and support to boards of cooperative educational services (BOCES), early learning centers, state correctional schools, facility schools, the state’s libraries, adult/family literacy centers, and General Education Development (GED) testing centers reaching learners of all ages. CDE operates the Colorado Talking Book Library that provides supports for people who have vision, print and reading disabilities. In addition, CDE provides structural and administrative support to the Colorado School for the Deaf and the Blind and the Charter School Institute. CDE serves students, parents and the general public by protecting the public trust through ensuring adherence to laws, strong stewardship of public funds and accountability for student performance. As the administrative arm of the State Board of Education, CDE is responsible for implementing state and federal education laws, disbursing state and federal funds, holding schools and districts accountable for performance, licensing all educators and providing public transparency of performance and financial data. CDE is led by the Commissioner of Education, a position appointed by the State Board of Education.