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.
| United States Secretary of Education | |
|---|---|
 Seal of the Department of Education | |
 Flag of the secretary | |
| Department of Education | |
| Style | Mrs. 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 |
| First holder | Shirley Hufstedler |
| Succession | Sixteenth[1] |
| Deputy | Deputy Secretary |
| Salary | Executive Schedule, Level I |
| Website | ed.gov |
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
changeSource[2]
| No. | Portrait | Name | State of residence | Took office | Left office | President | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | .jpg)
|
Shirley Hufstedler | California | November 30, 1979 | January 20, 1981 | Jimmy Carter (1977–1981) | |
| 2 | 
|
Terrel Bell | Utah | January 22, 1981 | January 20, 1985 | Ronald Reagan (1981–1989) | |
|
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 (1989–1993) | |||||||
| – | 
|
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 (1993–2001) | |
| 7 | 
|
Rod Paige | Texas | January 20, 2001 | January 20, 2005 | George W. Bush (2001–2009) | |
| 8 | 
|
Margaret Spellings | January 20, 2005 | January 20, 2009 | |||
| 9 | .jpg)
|
Arne Duncan[3] | Illinois | January 21, 2009 | January 1, 2016 | Barack Obama (2009–2017) | |
| 10 | .jpg)
|
John King Jr.[3] | New York | January 1, 2016 | March 14, 2016 | ||
| March 14, 2016 | January 20, 2017 | ||||||
| – | .jpg)
|
Phil Rosenfelt Acting |
Virginia | January 20, 2017 | February 7, 2017 | Donald Trump (2017–2021) | |
| 11 | .jpg)
|
Betsy DeVos | Michigan | February 7, 2017 | January 8, 2021 | ||
| – | .jpg)
|
Mick Zais Acting |
South Carolina | January 8, 2021 | January 20, 2021 | ||
| – |
|
Phil Rosenfelt Acting |
Virginia | January 20, 2021 | March 2, 2021 | Joe Biden (2021–2025) | |
| 12 | .jpg)
|
Miguel Cardona | Connecticut | March 2, 2021 | January 20, 2025 | ||
| – | 
|
Denise Carter Acting |
January 20, 2025 | March 3, 2025 | Donald Trump (2025–present) | ||
| 13 | 
|
Linda McMahon | Connecticut | March 3, 2025 | Incumbent | ||
References
change- ↑ "3 U.S. Code § 19 - Vacancy in offices of both President and Vice President; officers eligible to act". Legal Information Institute. Retrieved 31 July 2021.
- ↑ "The Education Secretaries Miguel Cardona Would Follow". Education Writers Association. Archived from the original on 2021-01-13. Retrieved 2021-01-08.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Eilperin, Juliet; Layton, Lyndsey; Brown, Emma (October 2, 2015). "U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan to step down at end of year". The Washington Post. Retrieved November 23, 2016.