Michigan Department of Education

Department of Education

Michigan Department of Education Logo
Department overview
Formed	1850
Headquarters	608 West Allegan Street, Lansing [1]
Ministers responsible	Dr. Pamela Pugh, Board President Ms. Ellen Lipton, Board Vice President Dr. Judith Pritchett, Board Secretary Mr. Marshall Bullock, II, Board Treasurer Dr. Mitchell Robinson, NASBE Delegate
Department executives	Michael F Rice, Superintendent of Public Instruction Sue C Carnell, Chief Deputy Delsa Chapman, Deputy Superintendent, Educator, Student, and School Supports Scott Koenigsknecht, Deputy Superintendent, P-20 System and Student Transitions Vacant, Deputy Superintendent, Finance Operations
Child agencies	Library of Michigan Michigan School for the Deaf
Key document	CONSTITUTION OF MICHIGAN OF 1963 § 3 State board of education; duties.
Website	https://www.michigan.gov/mde

The Michigan Department of Education (MDE) is a state agency of Michigan, in the United States. The MDE oversees public school districts in the state. The department is governed by the State Board of Education. The State Board of Education was first provided for in the Constitution of 1850 and currently exists through the provisions of Article VIII, Section 3, of the Constitution of 1963. The state board is composed of eight members ^[2] nominated by party conventions and elected at-large for terms of eight years, with two members being elected at each biennial state general election. The governor is authorized to fill vacancies on the state board and also serves as an ex officio member of the state board, without the right to vote. The superintendent of public instruction is appointed by the board for a term to be determined by the board, to serve as its chair, without the right to vote. ^[3]

The department is led by the superintendent of public instruction, Michael F. Rice, who was appointed in 2019. ^[4] As the principal executive officer of the Department of Education, the superintendent sits on the Governor's Cabinet, the State Administrative Board, and acts as chair and a non-voting member of the State Board of Education. The superintendent advises the legislature on education policy and funding needs, as defined by the State Board of Education. The superintendent is responsible for the implementation of bills passed by the legislature and policies established by the State Board of Education. The superintendent is a spokesperson for education in the state. The superintendent also is the primary liaison to the United States Department of Education and other federal agencies. ^[5]

Major departmental responsibilities include: educator preparation and certification; providing technical assistance to schools in the areas of education improvement and innovation, special education, grants, transportation, health and food programs; statewide student assessment; school accountability; career and technical education; early childhood learning; distribution of state school aid; and overseeing the distribution and use of federal education program funding. The department also operates the Library of Michigan and the Michigan School for the Deaf in Flint. ^[6]

List of superintendents of public instruction

A group photo of men who have served as Michigan superintendent of public instruction in the late 19th and early 20th-century.

The following is a list of those who have served as Michigan Superintendent of Public Instruction. ^[7]

Superintendent	Term	Notes
John Davis Pierce	1836–1841
Franklin Sawyer Jr.	1841–1843
Oliver C. Comstock	1843–1845
Ira Mayhew	1845–1849
Francis W. Shearman	1849–1854
Ira Mayhew	1855–1858
John Milton Gregory	1859–1864
Oramel Hosford	1865–1872
Daniel B. Briggs	1873–1876
Horace S. Tarbell	1877–1878	Resigned.
Cornelius A. Gower	1878–1881	Resigned.
Varnum B. Cochran	1881–1883	Resigned.
Herschel R. Gass	1883–1885	Resigned.
Theodore Nelson	1885–1886
Joseph Estabrook	1887–1890
Ferris S. Fitch Jr.	1891–1892
Henry R. Pattengill	1893–1896
Jason E. Hammond	1897–1900
Delos Fall	1901–1904
Patrick H. Kelley	1905–1906
Luther L. Wright	1907–1913	Resigned.
Fred L. Keeler	1913–1919	Died in office.
Thomas E. Johnson	1919–1926	Removed by governor.
Wilford L. Coffey	1926–1927
Webster H. Pearce	1927–1933
Paul F. Voelker	1933–1935
Maurice R. Keyworth		Died before taking office.
Eugene B. Elliott	1935–1948	Resigned.
Lee M. Thurston	1948–1953	Resigned.
Clair L. Taylor	1953–1957
Lynn M. Bartlett	1957–1965
Alexander J. Kloster	1965–1966	Acting superintendent.
Ira Polley	1966–1969
John W. Porter	1969–1979	Resigned.
Eugene T. Paslov	1979–1980	Interim superintendent.
Phillip E. Runkel	1980–1987
Gary D. Hawks	1987–1988	Interim superintendent.
Donald L. Bemis	1988–1991	Resigned.
Gary D. Hawks	1991	Interim superintendent.
Robert E. Schiller	1991–1995
Arthur E. Ellis	1995–2001
Thomas D. Watkins Jr.	2001–2005
Jeremy Hughes	2005	Interim superintendent.
Michael P. Flanagan	2005–2015
Brian J. Whiston	2015–2018	Died in office.
Sheila A. Alles	2018–2019	Interim superintendent.
Michael F. Rice	2019–Present

References

1. MDE - Contact Information. Michigan Department of Education. Retrieved on January 19, 2023.
2. State Board of Education Members. Michigan Department of Education. Retrieved on January 9, 2019.
3. "Article VIII, Section 3" (PDF). Constitution of Michigan. 1963.
4. "State Board Appoints Michael Rice As Next State Superintendent". www.michigan.gov. Retrieved May 7, 2019.
5. MDE - Superintendent. Michigan Department of Education. Retrieved on August 1, 2019
6. "Michigan Manual" (PDF). Michigan Legislature. 2021–2022.
7. "Former Officials of Michigan" (PDF). Michigan Legislature. 2021. p. 507. Retrieved January 6, 2023.

External links

• Michigan Department of Education