United States Secretary of Education facts for kids

Quick facts for kids United States Secretary of Education
Flag of the secretary
Seal of the Department of Education
Incumbent Miguel Cardona since March 2, 2021
Department of Education
Style	Mr. Secretary (informal) The Honorable (formal)
Reports to	President
Seat	Lyndon Baines Johnson Department of Education Building, Washington, D.C.
Appointer	President with Senate advice and consent
Term length	No fixed term
Constituting instrument	20 U.S.C. § 3411
Formation	November 30, 1979; 45 years ago (1979-11-30)
First holder	Shirley Hufstedler
Succession	Sixteenth
Deputy	Deputy Secretary
Salary	Executive Schedule, Level I

The United States Secretary of Education is the head of the United States Department of Education. The secretary serves as the principal advisor to the president of the United States, and the federal government, on policies, programs, and activities related to all education in the United States. As a member of the Cabinet of the United States, the secretary is sixteenth in the line of succession to the presidency.

The current secretary of education is Miguel Cardona, who was confirmed by the Senate on March 1, 2021.

Function

The United States secretary of education is a member of the president's Cabinet and is the fifteenth in the United States presidential line of succession. This secretary deals with federal influence over education policy, and heads the United States Department of Education.

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."

List of secretaries

Prior to the creation of the Department of Education in 1979, Education was within the ambit of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare.

Parties

      Democrat       Republican

Status

     Denotes an Acting Secretary of Education

Health, Education, and Welfare

No.	Portrait	Name	State of residence	Took office	Left office	President(s)
1		Oveta Culp Hobby	Texas	April 11, 1953	July 31, 1955 2-year in Office		Dwight D. Eisenhower
2		Marion B. Folsom	New York	August 2, 1955	July 31, 1958 4-year in office
3		Arthur S. Flemming	Ohio	August 1, 1958	January 19, 1961 4-years in office
4		Abraham A. Ribicoff	Connecticut	January 21, 1961	July 13, 1962 1-year in office		John F. Kennedy
5		Anthony J. Celebrezze	Ohio	July 31, 1962	August 17, 1965 4-years in office
						Lyndon B. Johnson
6			John W. Gardner	California	August 18, 1965		March 1, 1968 4-years in office
7			Wilbur J. Cohen	Michigan	May 16, 1968		January 20, 1969 1-year and 8 moths in office
8		Robert H. Finch	California	January 21, 1969	June 23, 1970 1-year in office		Richard Nixon
9		Elliot L. Richardson	Massachusetts	June 24, 1970	January 29, 1973 3-years in office
10		Caspar W. Weinberger	California	February 12, 1973	August 8, 1975 2-years in office
							Gerald Ford
11		F. David Mathews	Alabama	August 8, 1975	January 20, 1977 2-years in office
12		Joseph A. Califano Jr.	District of Columbia	January 25, 1977	August 3, 1979 2-years		Jimmy Carter
13		Patricia Roberts Harris		August 3, 1979	May 4, 1980 1-year

United States Secretary of Education

Source

No.	Portrait	Name	State of residence	Took office	Left office	President
1		Shirley Hufstedler	California	November 30, 1979	January 20, 1981 2-years in office		Jimmy Carter
2		Terrel Bell	Utah	January 22, 1981	January 20, 1985 4-years in office		Ronald Reagan
		William Bennett	North Carolina	February 6, 1985	September 20, 1988 4-years in office
3
4		Lauro Cavazos	Texas	September 20, 1988	December 12, 1990 2-years in office
							George H. W. Bush
–		Ted Sanders Acting	Illinois	December 12, 1990	March 22, 1991
5		Lamar Alexander	Tennessee	March 22, 1991	January 20, 1993 2-years in office
6		Richard Riley	South Carolina	January 21, 1993	January 20, 2001 8-years in office		Bill Clinton
7		Rod Paige	Texas	January 20, 2001	January 20, 2005 4-years		George W. Bush
8		Margaret Spellings		January 20, 2005	January 20, 2009 4-years in office
9		Arne Duncan	Illinois	January 21, 2009	January 1, 2016. 7-years in office		Barack Obama
10		John King Jr.	New York	January 1, 2016	March 14, 2016
				March 14, 2016	January 20, 2017 10 months in office
–		Phil Rosenfelt Acting	Virginia	January 20, 2017	February 7, 2017		Donald Trump
11		Betsy DeVos	Michigan	February 7, 2017	January 8, 2021 4-years in office
–		Mick Zais Acting	South Carolina	January 8, 2021	January 20, 2021
–		Phil Rosenfelt Acting	Virginia	January 20, 2021	March 2, 2021		Joe Biden
12		Miguel Cardona	Connecticut	March 2, 2021	Incumbent

See also

In Spanish: Secretario de Educación de los Estados Unidos para niños