Illinois State Superintendent

The Illinois State Superintendent of Education, often shortened to State Superintendent, is a statewide government office in the U.S. state of Illinois.

The State Superintendent is nominated by the Governor of Illinois and serves at the pleasure of the Illinois State Board of Education. Since at least 2007, the superintendent is hired at the beginning of a new gubernatorial term after the governor appoints the State Board of Education. The State Superintendent is the chief education officer of the state, and the chief executive officer of the State Board of Education, but is prohibited from being a member of the board.

From 1851 to 1975, the role was an elected statewide office,^{[citation needed]} the Superintendent of Public Instruction; the old name is still referred to in some laws. Following the inaugural appointment of Ninian Wirt Edwards, the office was an elected position.^{[citation needed]} The powers and duties of the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction were transferred to the Illinois State Board of Education on January 12, 1975.

The current officeholder is Dr. Tony Sanders.

List of office holders

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Elected office

	Name	In office	Political party	Year(s) elected	Note(s)
	Ninian Wirt Edwards	1854–1857	Democratic	—N/a	appointed by the governor
	William H. Powell	1857–1859	Republican	1856
	Newton Bateman	1859–1863	Republican	1859, 1860
	John P. Brooks	1863–1865	Democratic	1862
	Newton Bateman	1865–1875	Republican	1864, 1866, 1870
	Samuel M. Etter	1875–1879	Democratic	1874
	James P. Slade	1879–1883	Republican	1878
	Henry Raab	1883–1887	Democratic	1882
	Richard Edwards	1887–1891	Republican	1888
	Henry Raab	1891–1895	Democratic	1890
	Samuel Inglis	1895–1898	Republican	1894	died in office on Jan. 23, 1898
	Joseph H. Freeman	1898–1899	Republican	—N/a	appointed to fill vacancy left by death by Inglis
	Alfred Bayliss	1899–1907	Republican	1898, 1902
	Francis G. Blair	1907–1935	Republican	1906, 1910, 1914, 1918, 1922, 1926, 1930
	John A. Wieland	1935–1943	Democratic	1934, 1938
	Vernon L. Nickell	1943–1959	Republican	1942, 1946 1950, 1954
	George T. Wilkins	1959–1963	Democratic	1958
	Ray Page	1963–1971	Republican	1962, 1966
	Michael Bakalis	1971–1975	Democratic	1970

References