This article assesses the role of education in ensuring sustainable socio-economic development of the country, region and municipalities. The authors considered approaches to the definition of the essence of the concept of "knowledge economy". Also, we have substantiated the understanding of the quality of education as the basis for reforming the education system in Russia and determined the main problematic zones of the education development in Russian Federation and Dagestan Republic. The authors of the article propose a mechanism for the formation of a unified system of education quality management in a specific region -the Republic of Dagestan, linking the regional and municipal levels of education management and educational organizations. The authors also developed a process model for managing the quality of education in the Republic of Dagestan, which provides practical recommendations for the development of the education sector in the Republic of Dagestan. The proposed model provides the creation of a unified interconnected organic system that connects both regional and municipal levels of government.