United States Secretary of Education facts for kids

Quick facts for kids United States Secretary of Education
Flag of the Secretary of Education
Seal of the Department of Education
Incumbent Miguel Cardona since March 1, 2021
United States Department of Education
Style	Mr. Secretary (informal) The Honorable (formal)
Reports to	President of the United States
Seat	Lyndon Baines Johnson Department of Education Building, Washington, D.C.
Appointer	President of the United States with Senate advice and consent
Constituting instrument	20 U.S.C. § 3411
Formation	November 30, 1979 (1979-11-30)
First holder	Shirley Hufstedler
Succession	Fifteenth
Deputy	Deputy Secretary of Education
Salary	Executive Schedule, Level I

The United States Secretary of Education is the head of the Department of Education. The Secretary is a member of the President's Cabinet, and 16th in line of United States presidential line of succession. The United States Secretary of Education deals with Education.

In 1979, President Jimmy Carter established the Department of Education as a cabinet-level agency. Previously, Education had been handled by the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare, henceforth known as the Secretary of Health and Human Services.

Chronological list

No.	Portrait	Name	State of residence	Took office	Left office	President
1		Shirley Hufstedler	California	November 30, 1979	January 20, 1981		Jimmy Carter
2		Terrel Bell	Utah	January 22, 1981	January 20, 1985		Ronald Reagan
		William Bennett	North Carolina	February 6, 1985	September 20, 1988
3
4		Lauro 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 Riley	South Carolina	January 21, 1993	January 20, 2001		Bill Clinton
7		Rod Paige	Texas	January 20, 2001	January 20, 2005		George W. Bush
8		Margaret Spellings		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	January 20, 2017
–		Phil Rosenfelt Acting	Virginia	January 20, 2017	February 7, 2017		Donald Trump
11		Betsy DeVos	Michigan	February 7, 2017	January 8, 2021
–		Mick Zais Acting	South Carolina	January 8, 2021	January 20, 2021
–		Phil Rosenfelt Acting	Virginia	January 20, 2021	March 1, 2021		Joe Biden
12		Miguel Cardona	Connecticut	March 1, 2021	Incumbent