I’ve compiled the list of state school superintendents, commissioners, officers, leaders, CEOs, whatever you want to call them, who are running schools in each state. They’re powerful and responsible for initiating school reform. This includes Common Core State Standards, high-stakes testing, teacher evaluations, and the digital transformation of public schools.
Currently, they’re determining how the Every Student Succeeds Act will be used to address education in each state.
Who are these people? Click on their names for a link to their bios. I hope this will be a helpful reference.
If you would like to add something more about your state superintendent, positive, or negative, please share (keep it civil).
Inform me if you get a new leader. I will try to update the list.
Compensation figures come from Ballotopia. Let me know if these are inaccurate.
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Asterisk (*) shows those who have no education degrees, and no experience teaching children. Usually these individuals are from business.
(TFA) is Teach for America.
TFA novices got 5 weeks of training before spending 2-3 years in the classroom. Some went on for education degrees in administration.
(???) Some state superintendents have gotten bachelor degrees in non-education areas. Then they get graduate degrees in education, but there’s no indication they ever taught children.
Last, even if a state leader has classroom teaching experience, and all the right degrees, it isn’t a guarantee that they haven’t sold their souls to education reform.
Alabama
$250,000
Alaska
$141,156
Arizona
$85,000
Arkansas
$233,488
California
$165,126
Colorado
$245,688
Connecticut
$192,500
Delaware
$160,645
Florida
$276,000
Georgia
$123,270
Hawaii
$200,000
Idaho
$104,207
Illinois
$225,000
Indiana
$97,468
Iowa
$140,000
Kansas
$175,000
Kentucky
Stephen Pruitt, Ph.D. ??? resigned.
Louisiana
$275,000
Maine
$121,347
Maryland
$153,532
Massachusetts
$161,522
Michigan
Brian Whiston *, recently deceased
$206,060
Minnesota
$150,002
Mississippi
$300,000
Missouri
$191,544
Montana
$104,635
Nebraska
$220,725
Nevada
$128,998
New Hampshire
$114,553
New Jersey
$141,000
New Mexico
$126,250
New York
$250,000
North Carolina
$127,561
North Dakota
$120,410
Ohio
$192,504
Oklahoma
$124,373
Oregon
$157,581
Pennsylvania
$154,642
Rhode Island
(Note: His Ph.D. is in school and clinical psychology.)
$212,106
South Carolina
$92,007
South Dakota
$123,864
Tennessee
$200,004
Texas
$220,375
Utah
$230,069
Vermont
$114,553
Virginia
$206,467
Washington
$134,212
West Virginia
$230,000
Wisconsin
$121,307
Wyoming
$92,000
Reference
BALLOTOPIA: Superintendent of Schools (State Executive Office)
Superintendents also influence whether or not children go to school sleep deprived, which increases their risks for car accidents, depression, obesity, and academic problems. For years, in Pinellas County, we have had one of the earliest high school start times in the nation (7:05) and the school board only voted to move it later by 15 minutes, keeping it among the earliest. According to the Education Commission of the states,
“[s]leep deprivation not only impacts learning but also increases risks of accidents and injuries and affects hormones and metabolism. Changing to later school start times has been shown to reduce car accidents involving adolescent drivers. There is also clinical evidence that sleep deprivation is a contributing factor to obesity, depressive illness and sleep disorders.”
The following organizations are urging everyone to make the health, welfare, and academic success of the children a priority and they are trying to make sure ALL parents are informed of the dangers of sleep deprivation. You can read their position statements at http://www.startschoollater.net/key-position-statements.html
The American Academy of Pediatrics The Centers for Disease Control The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry American Psychological Association American Medical Association The National Education Association
National PTA
The Education Commission of the States The National Sleep Foundation The National Association of School Nurses The Society of Pediatric Nurses American Academy of Sleep Medicine Florida Medical Association Florida Chapter American Academy of Pediatrics Florida High School Athletic Association Sports Medicine Advisory Committee
Has Pam Stewart done anything about this important issue, Melissa?
Michigan’s superintendent is among the highest paid. Michigan’s academic scores are dead last in the country. There is clearly a correlation because the emergency manager of Highland Park Michigan which has only one school all of whose children are failing under the Leona Group is paid $130,000 a year. There are only three hundred students and none of them are reading at grade level.
Brian Whiston recently passed away, but the Leona Group is a good example of privatization. An outside management group with no oversight helping run charter schools. Thanks for letting us know, Elena.
Do you have a new state superintendent?
https://www.leonagroup.com/
WOW. An amazing resource! Thanks.
Good! I hope it can be used for info. Thanks, Ciedie!
Thanks so much for putting this together, Nancy. Here is the opinion piece I wrote when Ken Wagner first came to RI as Commissioner of Education. Sadly I have seen no reason to change my original opinion. He has made some (in)famous declarations since serving as our Commissioner. When told that students did somewhat better on the PARCC when they took the test with paper and pencil rather than online, instead of acknowledging that the online format was problematic for many students, he opined that maybe the pencil and paper scores were inflated. He thinks it’s fine for computers to score students’ essays. He also dismisses Piaget’s stages of development as passe and asserts that “children can do so much more than we give them credit for.” That is certainly true, but not when the “much more” is expecting first graders to expound on the Code of Hammurabi (as contained in the first grade EngageNY ELA materials that Wagner is so proud of).
http://www.providencejournal.com/article/20150713/OPINION/150719839
Thanks, Sheila! I remembered this and hoped you would reply. Rhode Islanders and anyone concerned about ed. reform should read your article. He is a clinical psychologist!
This is four years old, but the guy is the same. The charters are edging their way into San Antonio, and our guy seems to be all for it.
https://www.dmagazine.com/publications/d-magazine/2014/september/dallas-isd-trustee-mike-morath-is-on-a-mission-from-god/
No real education about schools and needs of children, but another know-it-all who hires more know-it-alls who have little understanding and experience with children.
Thanks for sharing the article. Texas is a state to watch.
Nevada’s Steve Cavanero ran a charter school in Nevada City, CA. A secretary at my school in NV had previously worked for him there. I hope that info helps out.
Thanks, Phil,