A Florida school superintendent has been appointed New York education commissioner.
The Board of Regents voted unanimously Tuesday to hire MaryEllen Elia at a salary of $250,000 a year.
Elia most recently led the Hillsborough County school district, which includes Tampa, Florida. She succeeds John King Jr., who stepped down at the end of 2014 for a post in President Barack Obama's administration.
Elia will take over a state education system that has undergone several years of often contested reforms. Some of them remain under debate, including performance measures for teachers and standardized testing based on the Common Core learning standards.
The New York State United Teachers union expressed support for Elia because of her past experience as a teacher in New York and a superintendent in public education.
