Oregon Superintendent of Public Instruction

The Superintendent of Public Instruction, sometimes referred to as the State Superintendent of Schools, was a constitutional office[1] within the executive branch of the Oregon state government from 1872 to 2012, when it was eliminated by state law. The superintendent acted as administrative officer of the State Board of Education and was executive head of the Department of Education. The superintendent was elected by the people of Oregon in a nonpartisan statewide ballot for a term of office of four years.

Oregon Superintendent of Public Instruction
Great Seal of the State of Oregon
Details of Office
Branch	Executive
Type	Nonpartisan
Selection	Statewide election
Term	4 years
Authority	Constitution
Established	1872
Abolished	2012

Duties

The superintendent's responsibilities included providing leadership for some 551,290 elementary and secondary students in Oregon’s 198 school districts, as well as those enrolled in public preschool programs, the state Schools for the Blind and the Deaf, programs for children with disabilities and education programs for young people in statewide juvenile corrections facilities.[2]

The superintendent had no direct control over policy, which was set by the Board of Education, and which adopts rules affecting local school districts, who are ultimately responsible for establishing policy at the district level.[3] As chief administrator, however, the superintendent had considerable influence on policy through recommendation to the Board, and certification and licensing authority.[2]

As chief administrative officer for the Department of Education, the superintendent oversaw state funding for schools, and made budget recommendations to the governor's office, subject to action by the state legislature.[2]

Office elimination

As part of an education overhaul, a 2011 state law eliminated the elected office of superintendent and made the governor the superintendent, with the responsibility of appointing a Deputy Superintendent of Public Instruction. The appointee must further have at least five years of experience as a school administrator and is subject to approval by the Oregon Senate.[4] The law enacting the change took effect when Susan Castillo, the last person to be elected to the position, resigned to take a job in the private sector on June 29, 2012.[5][6][7]

Accompanying the elimination of the elected office of superintendent was the establishment of a 12-member Oregon Education Investment Board, which hired Rudy Crew as the state's first chief education officer.[8] His contract with the state pays him more than the combined salaries of the governor, state treasurer and secretary of state.[8]

In July 2012, Governor Kitzhaber appointed Tigard-Tualatin School District superintendent Rob Saxton to serve as the first deputy superintendent.[9]

List of Oregon's superintendents of public instruction

The following table lists the twenty individuals who held the office of Superintendent of Public Instruction with dates of service:[10]

#	Name	Term
1	Sylvester C. Simpson	January 30, 1873 – September 14, 1874[11]
2	Levi L. Rowland	September 14, 1874 – September 9, 1878[11]
3	Leonard J. Powell	September 9, 1878 – September 11, 1882[11]
4	Ebenezer B. McElroy	September 11, 1882 – January 14, 1895[11]
5	George M. Irwin	January 14, 1895 – January 9, 1899[11]
6	John H. Ackerman	January 9, 1899 – January 3, 1911
7	Lewis R. Alderman	January 4, 1911 – June 28, 1913
8	Julius A. Churchill	July 1, 1913 – June 1, 1926
9	Richard R. Turner	June 1, 1926 – January 3, 1927
10	Charles A. Howard	January 3, 1927 – September 1, 1937
11	Rex Putnam	September 1, 1937 – January 31, 1961
12	Leon P. Minear	February 1, 1961 – March 31, 1968
13	Jesse V. Fasold	April 1, 1968 – July 1, 1968
14	Dale Parnell	July 1, 1968 – April 1, 1974
15	Jesse V. Fasold	April 1, 1974 – January 6, 1975
16	Verne Duncan	January 6, 1975 – November 15, 1989
17	John Erickson	December 18, 1989 – September 30, 1990
18	Norma Paulus	October 1, 1990 – January 3, 1999
19	Stan Bunn	January 4, 1999 – January 5, 2003
20	Susan Castillo	January 6, 2003 – June 29, 2012

References

1. OR Const. art. VIII.
2. "History of Oregon Department of Education Administrative Overview" (PDF). Oregon State Archives. Oregon Secretary of State. 2007. Retrieved December 5, 2006.
3. "Why have this position?". The Register-Guard. August 28, 2005. pp. 2B.
4. "Senate Bill 552 (text):Relating to Superintendent of Public Instruction". Oregon Legislative Assembly. Archived from the original on September 14, 2011. Retrieved June 28, 2011.
5. Melton, Kimberly (April 6, 2011). "Despite some concerns, Oregon Senate passes bill that makes Oregon's governor the schools superintendent". The Oregonian. Retrieved June 24, 2011.
6. "State Schools Superintendent to also be the Governor". 1110 KBND. June 23, 2011. Retrieved June 24, 2011.
7. Hammond, Betsy (June 4, 2012). "Oregon Schools Superintendent Susan Castillo to step down". The Oregonian. Retrieved June 4, 2012.
8. Jaquiss, Nigel (January 16, 2013). "Wrecking Crew". Willamette Week. Retrieved 2013-01-17.
9. Hammond, Betsy (July 12, 2012). "Tigard-Tualatin Superintendent Rob Saxton chosen to lead Oregon public schools". The Oregonian. Retrieved July 13, 2012.
10. "Superintendents – Past and Present". Oregon Department of Education (official website). ODE. 2006. Archived from the original on April 26, 2010. Retrieved December 5, 2006.
11. Kincaid, Harrison Rittenhouse (1899). "Superintendents of Public Instruction". Political and Official History and Register of Oregon. State of Oregon: 10.