Superintendent (education) - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Education

Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...

in the United States, a superintendent (also known as a chief school administrator in many states) is an individual who has executive oversight and administration rights, usually within an educational entity or organization.

United States

Many state departments of education

State education agency

A state education agency , or state department of education, is a formal governmental label for the state-level government agencies within each U.S...

in the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

refer to their senior administrator as superintendent.
Generally, public school district superintendents are selected by a school board of a local school district

School district

School districts are a form of special-purpose district which serves to operate the local public primary and secondary schools.-United States:...

. As chief executive officer

Chief executive officer

A chief executive officer , managing director , Executive Director for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or administrator in charge of total management of an organization...

of the public school, the superintendent has oversight for what is often one of the larger businesses within the community the district serves.

Most superintendents are members on the board of education

Board of education

A board of education or a school board or school committee is the title of the board of directors or board of trustees of a school, local school district or higher administrative level....

(school board) of their school district, but they usually cannot vote as members of the board. While there are exceptions, many school districts now require, or desire, that their superintendent hold a doctoral degree

Doctor of Education

The Doctor of Education or Doctor in Education degree , in Latin, Doctor Educationis, is a research-oriented professional doctorate that prepares the student for academic, administrative, clinical, or research positions in educational, civil, and private organizations.-Differences between an Ed.D...

. Depending on the state in which they serve, a public school superintendent might also be referred to as "chief education officer", or "chief executive officer". Most superintendents are hired by the board of education (or board of trustees), which is a governing entity of the district composed of elected officials from the communities the school district serves.

Current chief state school officers

State	Head of education	Elected	Name
Alabama Alabama Alabama is a state located in the southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Tennessee to the north, Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gulf of Mexico to the south, and Mississippi to the west. Alabama ranks 30th in total land area and ranks second in the size of its inland...	Alabama Superintendent of Education	No	Dr. Joseph B. Morton
Alaska Alaska Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...	Commissioner of Education Commissioner of Education The Commissioner of Education was the title given to the head of the National Bureau of Education, a former unit within the Department of the Interior in the United States...	No	Larry LeDoux
Arizona Arizona Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...	Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction	Yes	John Huppenthal John Huppenthal John Huppenthal is the current Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction.His political career includes serving as City Councilman, State Representative, and State Senator. Huppenthal was also a Senior Planning Analyst for Salt River Project.- Personal :Huppenthal was born in Michigan City,...
Arkansas Arkansas Arkansas is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Its name is an Algonquian name of the Quapaw Indians. Arkansas shares borders with six states , and its eastern border is largely defined by the Mississippi River...	Arkansas Commissioner of Education	No	Dr. Thomas Kimbrell
California California California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...	California Superintendent of Public Instruction	Yes	Tom Torlakson Tom Torlakson Thomas A. "Tom" Torlakson is an American politician from California. In 2010, he was elected to the position of California State Superintendent of Public Instruction, the highest education post in California...
Colorado Colorado Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...	Colorado Commissioner of Education	No	Dwight D. Jones
Connecticut Connecticut Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...	Connecticut Commissioner of Education	No	Dr. Mark K. McQuillan
Delaware Delaware Delaware is a U.S. state located on the Atlantic Coast in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It is bordered to the south and west by Maryland, and to the north by Pennsylvania...	Delaware Secretary of Education	No	Dr. Lillian Lowery
District of Columbia	Office of the State Superintendent of Education for the District of Columbia	No	Dr. Kerri L. Briggs
Florida Florida Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...	Florida Commissioner of Education	No	Dr. Eric J. Smith
Georgia Georgia (U.S. state) Georgia is a state located in the southeastern United States. It was established in 1732, the last of the original Thirteen Colonies. The state is named after King George II of Great Britain. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January 2, 1788...	State Superintendent of Schools	Yes	William Bradley Bryant William Bradley Bryant William Bradley "Brad" Bryant was appointed superintendent of public schools for the U.S. state of Georgia by Gov. Sonny Perdue in 2010, filling the vacancy left by the resignation of Kathy Cox...
Hawaii Hawaii Hawaii is the newest of the 50 U.S. states , and is the only U.S. state made up entirely of islands. It is the northernmost island group in Polynesia, occupying most of an archipelago in the central Pacific Ocean, southwest of the continental United States, southeast of Japan, and northeast of...	Hawaii Superintendent of Education	No	Kathryn Matayoshi
Idaho Idaho Idaho is a state in the Rocky Mountain area of the United States. The state's largest city and capital is Boise. Residents are called "Idahoans". Idaho was admitted to the Union on July 3, 1890, as the 43rd state....	Idaho Superintendent of Education	Yes	Tom Luna Tom Luna Thomas "Tom" Luna is the current Superintendent of Public Instruction in Idaho, sworn in on January 1, 2007. Before being elected to this position, he served on the Nampa School Board for seven years, three as chairman, and on the Idaho Achievement Standards Commission and Idaho Assessment and...
Illinois Illinois Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...	Illinois Superintendent of Education	No	Dr. Christopher Koch
Indiana Indiana Indiana is a US state, admitted to the United States as the 19th on December 11, 1816. It is located in the Midwestern United States and Great Lakes Region. With 6,483,802 residents, the state is ranked 15th in population and 16th in population density. Indiana is ranked 38th in land area and is...	Indiana Superintendent of Education	Yes	Dr. Tony Bennett Dr. Tony Bennett Dr. Tony Bennett is the current Indiana Superintendent of Public Instruction. He was sworn in on January 12, 2009. Dr. Bennett, a Republican, was elected to his first term in 2008 defeating his Democratic opponent, Dr. Richard Wood with over 51% of the vote....
Iowa Iowa Iowa is a state located in the Midwestern United States, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland". It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of the French colony of New...	Iowa Director of Education	No	Judy Jeffrey
Kansas Kansas Kansas is a US state located in the Midwestern United States. It is named after the Kansas River which flows through it, which in turn was named after the Kansa Native American tribe, which inhabited the area. The tribe's name is often said to mean "people of the wind" or "people of the south...	Kansas Interim Commissioner of Education	No	Dr. Diane DeBacker
Kentucky Kentucky The Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...	Kentucky Commissioner of Education	No	Dr. Terry Holliday
Louisiana Louisiana Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...	Louisiana Superintendent of Education	No	Paul G. Pastorek
Maine Maine Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the east and south, New Hampshire to the west, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is both the northernmost and easternmost...	Maine Commissioner of Education	No	Susan A. Gendron
Maryland Maryland Maryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...	Maryland Superintendent of Education	No	Dr. Nancy S. Grasmick
Massachusetts Massachusetts The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...	Massachusetts Commissioner of Education	No	Mitchell D. Chester
Michigan Michigan Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....	Michigan Superintendent of Public Instruction	No	Michael P. Flanagan
Minnesota Minnesota Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.3 million residents. Minnesota was carved out of the eastern half of the Minnesota Territory and admitted to the Union as the thirty-second state...	Minnesota Commissioner of Education	No	Alice Seagren
Mississippi Mississippi Mississippi is a U.S. state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The name of the state derives from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, whose name comes from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi...	Mississippi Superintendent of Education	No	Dr. Tom Burnham
Missouri Missouri Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...	Missouri Commissioner of Education	No	Dr. Chris L. Nicastro
Montana Montana Montana is a state in the Western United States. The western third of Montana contains numerous mountain ranges. Smaller, "island ranges" are found in the central third of the state, for a total of 77 named ranges of the Rocky Mountains. This geographical fact is reflected in the state's name,...	Montana Superintendent of Public Instruction	Yes	Denise Juneau Denise Juneau Denise Juneau is an American politician from the U.S. state of Montana elected as the State Superintendent of Public Instruction. The State Superintendent of Public Instruction heads the Montana Office of Public Instruction. A member of the Democratic Party, Juneau is the first American Indian...
Nebraska Nebraska Nebraska is a state on the Great Plains of the Midwestern United States. The state's capital is Lincoln and its largest city is Omaha, on the Missouri River....	Nebraska Commissioner of Education	No	Dr. Roger Breed
Nevada Nevada Nevada is a state in the western, mountain west, and southwestern regions of the United States. With an area of and a population of about 2.7 million, it is the 7th-largest and 35th-most populous state. Over two-thirds of Nevada's people live in the Las Vegas metropolitan area, which contains its...	Nevada Superintendent of Education	No	Dr. Keith Rheault
New Hampshire New Hampshire New Hampshire is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state was named after the southern English county of Hampshire. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Atlantic Ocean to the east, and the Canadian...	New Hampshire Commissioner of Education	No	Virginia Barry
New Jersey New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States. , its population was 8,791,894. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York, on the southeast and south by the Atlantic Ocean, on the west by Pennsylvania and on the southwest by Delaware...	New Jersey Commissioner of Education	No	Bret Schundler Bret Schundler Bret D. Schundler is an American politician from New Jersey. He served in the Cabinet of Governor Chris Christie as New Jersey Commissioner of Education until he was dismissed on August 27, 2010....
New Mexico New Mexico New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...	New Mexico Secretary of Education	No	Dr. Veronica García
New York New York New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...	New York Commissioner of Education	No	David Steiner David Steiner (academic) David Miller Steiner is the New York State Commissioner of Education in the New York State Education Department.-Biography:He was born in Princeton, New Jersey to academic George Steiner and was raised in Cambridge, England. He attended The Perse School in Cambridge and earned degrees from...
North Carolina North Carolina North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...	North Carolina Superintendent of Public Instruction North Carolina Superintendent of Public Instruction The North Carolina Superintendent of Public Instruction is the elected head of the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction and oversees the public school systems of the state. The Superintendent is currently an elected member of the North Carolina Council of State, chosen in a partisan...	Yes	June St. Clair Atkinson
North Dakota North Dakota North Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States of America, along the Canadian border. The state is bordered by Canada to the north, Minnesota to the east, South Dakota to the south and Montana to the west. North Dakota is the 19th-largest state by area in the U.S....	North Dakota Superintendent of Public Instruction North Dakota Superintendent of Public Instruction The North Dakota Superintendent of Public Instruction oversees the operations of the North Dakota Department of Public Instruction. The Superintendent enforces state and federal statutes and regulations regarding public schools and related programs within the U.S. state of North Dakota...	Yes	Dr. Wayne G. Sanstead Wayne G. Sanstead Wayne Godfrey Sanstead is the current North Dakota Superintendent of Public Instruction. Sanstead holds a doctorate from the University of North Dakota in secondary education. Sanstead is the longest serving chief state school officer in the United States...
Ohio Ohio Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...	Ohio Superintendent of Public Instruction	No	Deborah S. Delisle
Oklahoma Oklahoma Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...	Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction	Yes	Sandy Garrett Sandy Garrett Sandy Garrett is a retired American Democratic politician from the US state of Oklahoma. Garrett is the former Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction....
Oregon Oregon Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...	Oregon Superintendent of Public Instruction Oregon Superintendent of Public Instruction The Superintendent of Public Instruction, sometimes referred to as the State Superintendent of Schools, is a constitutional office within the executive branch of the Oregon state government, and acts as administrative officer of the State Board of Education and executive head of the Department of...	Yes	Susan Castillo Susan Castillo Susan Castillo heads the Oregon Department of Education as the Superintendent of Public Instruction. Although she currently holds an elective statewide non-partisan office, she is a Democrat, and served from 1997 to 2003 in the Oregon State Senate as a member of that party...
Pennsylvania Pennsylvania The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...	Pennsylvania Secretary of Education	No	Dr. Gerald L. Zahorchak
Rhode Island Rhode Island The state of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...	Rhode Island Commissioner of Education	No	Deborah A. Gist
South Carolina South Carolina South Carolina is a state in the Deep South of the United States that borders Georgia to the south, North Carolina to the north, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence...	South Carolina Superintendent of Education	Yes	Jim Rex Jim Rex Jim Rex was the 16th South Carolina Superintendent of Education. He ran for the position in 2006 as a Democrat, against Karen Floyd, a Republican. Rex defeated Floyd by only 455 votes, the closest margin of victory in a statewide election in South Carolina's history...
South Dakota South Dakota South Dakota is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States. It is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux American Indian tribes. Once a part of Dakota Territory, South Dakota became a state on November 2, 1889. The state has an area of and an estimated population of just over...	South Dakota Director of Education	No	Thomas J. Oster
Tennessee Tennessee Tennessee is a U.S. state located in the Southeastern United States. It has a population of 6,346,105, making it the nation's 17th-largest state by population, and covers , making it the 36th-largest by total land area...	Tennessee Commissioner of Education	No	Dr. Timothy K. Webb
Texas Texas Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...	Texas Commissioner of Education	No	Robert Scott
Utah Utah Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...	Utah Superintendent of Public Instruction	No	Larry Shumway
Vermont Vermont Vermont is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. The state ranks 43rd in land area, , and 45th in total area. Its population according to the 2010 census, 630,337, is the second smallest in the country, larger only than Wyoming. It is the only New England...	Vermont Commissioner of Education	No	Armando Vilaseca Armando Vilaseca Armando Vilaseca is the current Commissioner of the Vermont Department of Education.and a resident of Westford, Vermont.- Career in Vermont Education :...
Virginia Virginia The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...	Virginia Superintendent of Public Instruction	No	Dr. Patricia I. Wright
Washington	Washington Superintendent of Public Instruction	Yes	Randy Dorn
West Virginia West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian and Southeastern regions of the United States, bordered by Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Ohio to the northwest, Pennsylvania to the northeast and Maryland to the east...	West Virginia Superintendent of Education	No	Dr. Steven L. Paine
Wisconsin Wisconsin Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...	Wisconsin Superintendent of Public Instruction	Yes	Dr. Tony Evers Tony Evers Tony Evers is an American educator and the present Superintendent of Public Instruction of Wisconsin since 2009.Born in Plymouth, Wisconsin, Evers received his bachelors, masters, and doctorate degrees from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Evers has been in public school...
Wyoming Wyoming Wyoming is a state in the mountain region of the Western United States. The western two thirds of the state is covered mostly with the mountain ranges and rangelands in the foothills of the Eastern Rocky Mountains, while the eastern third of the state is high elevation prairie known as the High...	Wyoming Superintendent of Public Instruction	Yes	Dr. James M. McBride
American Samoa American Samoa American Samoa is an unincorporated territory of the United States located in the South Pacific Ocean, southeast of the sovereign state of Samoa...	American Samoa Director of Education	N/A	Dr. Claire Tuia Poumele
Guam Guam Guam is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States located in the western Pacific Ocean. It is one of five U.S. territories with an established civilian government. Guam is listed as one of 16 Non-Self-Governing Territories by the Special Committee on Decolonization of the United...	Guam Superintendent of Education	N/A	Dr. Nerissa Bretania-Underwood
Puerto Rico Puerto Rico Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...	Puerto Rico Secretary of Education	N/A	Carlos Chardon Carlos A. Chardón for Dr. Carlos E. Chardón, the first Puerto Rican mycologist and the first Puerto Rican to hold the position of Chancellor of the University of Puerto Rico, see: Carlos E. Chardón.Dr. Carlos A...
U.S. Virgin Islands	U.S. Virgin Islands Acting Commissioner of Education	N/A	Dr. Laverne Terry

Other countries

The term 'superintendent' is rarely used for education in the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

(possibly to avoid confusion with the police rank

Superintendent (police)

Superintendent , often shortened to "super", is a rank in British police services and in most English-speaking Commonwealth nations. In many Commonwealth countries the full version is superintendent of police...

); in most Local Education Authorities the equivalent title is Chief Education Officer. According to the history of the school (published in 1985), in 1885, when the Church Schools Company took over a school to form Newcastle High School, later Newcastle upon Tyne Church High School, the mistress of the former school was briefly considered for the post of Lady Superintendent, below the headmistress.

External links

The American Association of School Administrators website
The State of the American School Superintendency
The Superintendent in an Age of Accountability - from the Education Resources Information Center
Education Resources Information Center
ERIC - the Education Resources Information Center - is an online digital library of education research and information. ERIC is sponsored by the Institute of Education Sciences of the U.S. Department of Education...

.
Kentucky Commissioner of Education

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

United States

Current chief state school officers

Other countries

See also

External links