Branch: Executive Selection: Statewide election Authority: | Type: nonpartisan Term: 4 years Established: 1848 | |
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The Superintendent of Public Instruction, sometimes referred to as the State Superintendent of Schools, is a constitutional office within the executive branch of the Wisconsin state government, and acts as the executive head of the Department of Public Instruction. The superintendent is elected by the people of Wisconsin in a nonpartisan statewide ballot during the Spring primary of the same odd-numbered years that voters select members of the Supreme Court of Wisconsin. The superintendent serves a term of office of four years. The incumbent is Tony Evers. Superintendents have been elected in non-partisan elections since 1902; before that, superintendents were elected by party like other state executive officers.
Duties
The superintendent's responsibilities include providing leadership for Wisconsin's public school districts; provide the public with information about school management, attendance, and performance; licensing the state's teachers; and receive and disburse federal aid for schools.
In the case Thompson v. Craney, 199 Wis. 2d 674, 546 N.W.2d 123 (1996), the Supreme Court of Wisconsin declared that the Governor of Wisconsin could not reallocate or diminish the powers of the state Superintendent of Public Instruction by appointing a new Secretary of Education in charge of a Department of Education.