The Oklahoma State Superintendent of Public Instruction, sometimes called the Oklahoma State School Superintendent, is the

chief executive officer A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

for the

Oklahoma State Department of Education The Oklahoma State Department of Education is the state education agency of the State of Oklahoma charged with determining the policies and directing the administration and supervision of the public school system of Oklahoma. The State Board of Ed ...

and the president of the

Oklahoma State Board of Education Oklahoma (; Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a state in the South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the north, Missouri on the northeast, Arkansas on the east, New M ...

. The State Superintendent of Public Instruction is responsible for overseeing, implementing and reviewing the policies of the Oklahoma's

public school Public school may refer to: * State school (known as a public school in many countries), a no-fee school, publicly funded and operated by the government * Public school (United Kingdom), certain elite fee-charging independent schools in England an ...

system. The current State Superintendent of Public Instruction is

Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

Ryan Walters.

Constitutional requirements

The Office of State Superintendent of Public Instruction has requirements which set it apart from all other state offices. As with all executive branch officials, the State Superintendent of Public Instruction must be at least 31 years old and have been a register elector within Oklahoma for 10 years prior to election.

Election

The State Superintendent of Public Instruction is elected directly by the people of Oklahoma. Elections for the State Superintendent of Public Instruction are held on a four-year concurrent basis with the election of the governor. After all votes are collected, the Legislature of Oklahoma shall convene in the hall of the House of Representatives and the Speaker of the House of Representatives announce the results of the elections in the presence of a majority of each branch of the legislature. The persons having the highest number of votes for the office of the State Superintendent of Public Instruction shall be declared duly elected. However, in case two or more shall have an equal and the highest number of votes for the office of State Superintendent of Public Instruction, the legislature shall, by joint ballot, choose one of the said persons having an equal and the highest number of votes for the office of State Superintendent of Public Instruction.

November 2010 election

For the November 2010 general election,

Sandy Garrett Sandy Garrett is a retired American Democratic politician from the U.S. state of Oklahoma. Garrett is the former Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction. She was first elected to this office in 1990, and again in 1994, 1998, 2002, and 200 ...

(the five-time and incumbent Democratic officeholder) chose not to seek re-election for a sixth term.

Susan Paddack Susan Paddack (born in Baytown, Texas) is a Democratic politician and former educator in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. She served in the Oklahoma State Senate representing District 13, which includes Pontotoc and Hughes counties and parts of Ga ...

, a former secondary school science teacher and member of the

Oklahoma Senate The Oklahoma Senate is the upper house of the two houses of the Legislature of Oklahoma, the other being the Oklahoma House of Representatives. The total number of senators is set at 48 by the Oklahoma Constitution.Republican Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

candidate was

Janet Barresi Janet Barresi (born March 6, 1952) is a former dentist and former Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction who was elected on November 2, 2010 and began her term of service on January 10, 2011. Her term in office followed former Superintende ...

, a

dentist A dentist, also known as a dental surgeon, is a health care professional who specializes in dentistry (the diagnosis, prevention, management, and treatment of diseases and conditions of the mouth, oral cavity and other aspects of the craniofaci ...

, school

speech pathologist Speech is a human vocal communication using language. Each language uses phonetic combinations of vowel and consonant sounds that form the sound of its words (that is, all English words sound different from all French words, even if they are th ...

, and founder of two

charter school A charter school is a school that receives government funding but operates independently of the established state school system in which it is located. It is independent in the sense that it operates according to the basic principle of auto ...

s in Oklahoma (Independence Charter Middle School, the first charter school in the state of Oklahoma, and Harding High School. In addition, Richard E. Cooper ran as an independent candidate.http://www.ok.gov/elections/documents/listbk10_general.pdf Official List of 2010 General Election Candidates, see page 5 for State Superintendent candidates. Barresi won the general election.

Term(s) of office

The State Superintendent of Public Instruction's four-year term begins on the first Monday in January following the general election, and runs concurrently with that of the

Governor of Oklahoma The governor of Oklahoma is the head of government of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. Under the Oklahoma Constitution, the governor serves as the head of the Oklahoma Executive (government), executive branch, of the government of Oklahoma. The gove ...

. The Oklahoma Term Limits Amendment, also known as State Question 747, was on the November 2, 2010 ballot in Oklahoma as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment, where it was approved. The measure was sponsored by Randy Brogdon. The measure enacted an eight-year lifetime limit for the governor, lieutenant governor, state auditor and inspector, attorney general, state treasurer, labor commissioner, state schools superintendent and insurance commissioner.

Powers and responsibilities

Constitutionally, the State Superintendent of Public Instruction has no duties. The office's powers and responsibilities come from Oklahoma School Code and the powers granted to the office by the

. The primary function of the State Superintendent is giving advice and making recommendations to the State Board of Education on matters pertaining to the policies and administration of the State Department of Education and the public school system.Oklahoma School Code
Section 37.1 Powers of State Superintendent. (accessed August 22, 2013) The State Superintendent's powers over the Department of Education come from its ex officio positions as president of the

and

Oklahoma State Board of Career and Technology Education The Oklahoma Department of Career and Technology Education (ODCTE, commonly known and branded as CareerTech) is an agency of the state of Oklahoma located in Stillwater, Oklahoma. CareerTech oversees a statewide system of career and technology ed ...

. As the president of these Boards, the State Superintendent presides at meetings and has the full right of discussion and voting on measures. As the

of the State Department of Education, State Superintendent coordinates the divisions of the state education department and supervises agency employees. As Oklahoma's

state education agency A state education agency or state department of education is the state-level government organization within each U.S. state or territory responsible for education, including providing information, resources, and technical assistance on educationa ...

, the Office of the State Superintendent of Public Instruction is responsible for the general administration, coordination, supervision, promotion, evaluation, and improvement of educational programs, the state superintendent interprets and implements the policies of the State Board of Education. Also, upon request, the State Superintendent must advise district superintendents of schools on questions as to the powers, duties, and functions of school district officials. Every two years, the State Superintendent must compile, publish, and distribute a book of laws and Attorney General's opinions on schools, and issue annually a statistical report for the governor and legislators on the education department. Depending on the relationship between the two, the State Superintendent can serve as the chief education advisor to the

, as demonstrated by the relationship between Governor

Brad Henry Charles Bradford Henry (born July 10, 1963) is an American lawyer and politician who was the 26th governor of Oklahoma from 2003 to 2011. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected governor in 2002. Henry won re-election for a second term ...

and Superintendent

. The State Superintendent serves as the official representative from Oklahoma to the

United States Department of Education The United States Department of Education is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government. It began operating on May 4, 1980, having been created after the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare was split into the Department ...

Oath of office

"I, ........., do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support, obey, and defend the Constitution of the United States, and the Constitution of the State of Oklahoma, and that I will not, knowingly, receive, directly or indirectly, any money or other valuable thing, for the performance or nonperformance of any act or duty pertaining to my office, other than the compensation allowed by law; I further swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully discharge my duties as State Superintendent of Public Instruction of the State of Oklahoma to the best of my ability."

Office holders

References

External links

State Department of Education
website {{DEFAULTSORT:Oklahoma Superintendent Of Public Instruction *