United States Secretary of Education

Secretary of Education of the United States of America
Seal of the Department of Education
Flag of the Secretary of Education
Incumbent John King since January 1, 2016 Acting: January 1, 2016 – March 14, 2016
United States Department of Education
Style	Mr. Secretary
Member of	Cabinet
Reports to	The President
Seat	Washington, D.C.
Appointer	The President with Senate advice and consent
Term length	No fixed term
Constituting instrument	20 U.S.C. § 3411
Formation	November 30, 1979
First holder	Shirley Hufstedler
Succession	Fifteenth in the United States Presidential Line of Succession
Deputy	Deputy Secretary of Education
Salary	Executive Schedule, level 1
Website	www.ed.gov

The United States Secretary of Education is the head of the U.S. Department of Education. The Secretary is a member of the President's Cabinet, and fifteenth in line of United States presidential line of succession. The United States Secretary of Education deals with federal influence over Education policy.

The Secretary is advised by the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity, an advisory committee, on "matters related to accreditation and to the eligibility and certification process for institutions of higher education."^[1]

As of March 14, 2016 the Secretary of Education is John King, Jr.. He had been Acting Secretary since January 1, 2016.^[2]

List of Secretaries of Education

Parties

      Democratic       Republican

No.	Portrait	Name	State of Residence	Took Office	Left Office	President(s)
1		Shirley M. Hufstedler	California	November 30, 1979	January 20, 1981		Jimmy Carter
2		Terrel H. Bell	Utah	January 22, 1981	January 20, 1985		Ronald Reagan
3		William J. Bennett	New York	February 6, 1985	September 20, 1988
4		Lauro F. Cavazos	Texas	September 20, 1988	December 12, 1990
							George H. W. Bush
-		Ted Sanders (acting)	Illinois	December 12, 1990	March 22, 1991
5		Lamar Alexander	Tennessee	March 22, 1991	January 20, 1993
6		Richard W. Riley	South Carolina	January 21, 1993	January 20, 2001		Bill Clinton
7		Roderick R. Paige	Texas	January 20, 2001	January 20, 2005		George W. Bush
8		Margaret Spellings	Texas	January 20, 2005	January 20, 2009
9		Arne Duncan	Illinois	January 21, 2009	January 1, 2016		Barack Obama
10		John King, Jr.	New York	January 1, 2016	March 14, 2016
				March 14, 2016	Incumbent

Living former Secretaries of Education

As of May 2016, there are seven living former Secretaries of Education, the oldest being Lauro Cavazos (served 1988–1990, born 1927). The most recent Secretary of Education to die was Shirley Hufstedler (served 1979–1981, born 1925) on March 30, 2016.

Name	Term of office	Date of birth (and age)
William Bennett	1985–1988	July 31, 1943
Lauro Cavazos	1988–1990	January 4, 1927
Lamar Alexander	1991–1993	July 6, 1940
Richard Riley	1993–2001	January 2, 1933
Rod Paige	2001–2005	June 17, 1933
Margaret Spellings	2005–2009	November 30, 1957
Arne Duncan	2009–2016	November 6, 1964

References

1. "National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity". United States Department of Education. 2008. Retrieved 2007-05-17.
2. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/education/wp/2015/10/02/education-secretary-arne-duncan-reportedly-will-step-down-at-end-of-year/

External links

• "ED Staff Organization: Management Offices". U.S. Department of Education. Retrieved April 11, 2007. - Includes the Secretary of Education