The Illinois State Superintendent of Education, often shortened to State Superintendent, is a statewide government office in the U.S. state of

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

. The State Superintendent is nominated by the

Governor of Illinois The governor of Illinois is the head of government of Illinois, and the various agencies and departments over which the officer has jurisdiction, as prescribed in the state constitution. It is a directly elected position, votes being cast by p ...

and serves at the pleasure of the

Illinois State Board of Education The Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) administers public education in the state of Illinois. The State Board consists of nine members who are appointed by the Governor with the consent of the Senate. Board members serve four-year terms, wit ...

. Since at least 2007, the superintendent is hired at the beginning of a new gubernatorial term after the governor appoints the State Board of Education. The State Superintendent is the chief education officer of the state, and the chief executive officer of the State Board of Education, but is prohibited from being a member of the board. the Superintendent of Public Instruction; the old name is still referred to in some laws. The powers and duties of the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction were transferred to the

on January 12, 1975. The current officeholder is Dr. Carmen I. Ayala. Ayala is the first Latina and female to hold the position on a full-time basis.

List of office holders

Elected

Ninian Wirt Edwards Ninian Wirt Edwards (April 15, 1809 – September 2, 1899) was an American politician. Born in Sangamon County, Illinois, Edwards was the son of Ninian Edwards (who served as territorial and state governor of Illinois). He was married to E ...

(1854–1857) * William H. Powell (1857–1859) * Newton Bateman (1859–1863) * John P. Brooks (1863–1865) *Newton Bateman (1865–1875) * Samuel M. Etter (1875–1879) * James P. Slade (1879–1883) * Henry Raab (1883–1887) * Richard Edwards (1887–1891) *Henry Raab (1891–1895) * Samuel Inglis (1895–1898) * Joseph H. Freeman (1898–1899) *

Alfred Bayliss Alfred Bayliss (March 22, 1847 – August 26, 1911) was an English American educator from Gloucestershire. Orphaned shortly after his family emigrated to the United States, Bayliss worked his way into Hillsdale College in Michigan. After a two-ye ...

(1899–1907) * Francis G. Blair (1907–1935) * John A. Wieland (1935–1943) * Vernon L. Nickell (1943–1959) * George T. Wilkins (1959–1963) *

Ray Page Raymond Ian Page (25 September 1924 – 10 March 2012) was a British historian of Anglo-Saxon England and the Viking Age. As a renowned runologist, he specialised in the study of Anglo-Saxon runes. Biography Page was born in Sheffield in 1924, ...

(1963–1971) * Michael Bakalis (1971–1975)

Appointed (1975–present)

*Joseph Cronin (1975–1980) *Donald Gill (1981–1984) *Ted Sanders (1985–1989) *Robert Leininger (1990–1994) *Mary Jane Broncato (1994) (temporary) *Joseph Spagnolo (1994–1998) *Glen "Max" McGee (1998–2001) *Ernest Wish (2002) (1 month) *Respico Vazquez (2002) (temporary) *Robert Schiller (2002–2004) *Randy Dunn (2004–2006) *

Christopher Koch Christopher John Koch Order of Australia, AO (16 July 1932 – 23 September 2013) was an Australian novelist, known for his 1978 novel ''The Year of Living Dangerously (novel), The Year of Living Dangerously'', which was adapted into an The Yea ...

(2006–2015) *Tony Smith (from 2015 to 2019) *Dr. Carmen I. Ayala (2019–Present)

References

{{reflist * 1854 establishments in Illinois