(a) There is created a council on elementary and secondary education which shall be and is constituted a public corporation, empowered to sue and be sued in its own name, to have a corporate seal, and to exercise all the powers, in addition to those specifically enumerated in this chapter, usually appertaining to public corporations entrusted with control of elementary and secondary education institutions and functions. The council on elementary and secondary education shall be protected from sudden changes in membership and reversal of policy by having staggered terms for its public members.
(b) Upon its organization the council on elementary and secondary education shall be invested with the legal title (in trust for the state) to all property, real and personal, now owned by and/or under the control or in the custody of the board of regents for education for the use of the department of elementary and secondary education. The council on elementary and secondary education is made successor to all powers, rights, duties, and privileges pertaining to elementary and secondary education.
(c) The council on elementary and secondary education is made successor to all powers, rights, duties, and privileges formerly belonging to the board of regents for elementary and secondary education, unless otherwise specified in law.