# Virginia Superintendent of Public Instruction

In Virginia, the Superintendent of Public Instruction is the chief executive of the Virginia Department of Education and also serves as the Secretary of the Virginia Board of Education. Lisa Coons was appointed Virginia's 27th Superintendent of Public Instruction by Governor Glenn Youngkin, effective March 22, 2023. The former state superintendent, Jillian Balow, resigned in March 2023.

## Role

The Virginia Constitution states that the Superintendent be “an experienced educator.” The Superintendent of Public Instruction serves for a term coincident with the Governor making the appointment. The duties of the Superintendent of Public Instruction are addressed in Title 22.1, Chapter 3 of the Code of Virginia.
The duties of the State Superintendent of Public Instruction include:
* Serve as secretary of the Board of Education;
* Provide such assistance in his office as shall be necessary for the proper and uniform enforcement of the provisions of the school laws in cooperation with the local school authorities;
* Prepare and furnish such forms for attendance officers, teachers and other school officials as are required by law;
* (Expires July 1, 2025) At least annually, survey all local school divisions to identify critical shortages of (i) teachers and administrative personnel by geographic area, by school division, or by subject matter and (ii) school bus drivers by geographic area and local school division and report such critical shortages to each local school division and to the Virginia Retirement System.

## List of Superintendents of Public Instruction

List of Virginia superintendents of public instruction from 1870 – till date. :
| No. | Name (Birth–Death) | Term | Governor |
| 1 | William Henry Ruffner (1824–1908) | March 5, 1870 – March 15, 1882 | |
| 2 | Richard Ratcliffe Farr (1845–1892) | March 15, 1882 – March 15, 1886 | William E. Cameron |
| 3 | John L. Buchanan | March 15, 1886 – January 1, 1890 | Fitzhugh Lee |
| 4 | John E. Massey (1819–1901) | January 1, 1890 – March 15, 1898 | Philip W. McKinney Charles Triplett O'Ferrall |
| 5 | Joseph W. Southall (1833–1909) | March 15, 1898 – February 1, 1906 | James Hoge Tyler Andrew Jackson Montague |
| 6 | Joseph D. Eggleston II (1867–1953) | February 1, 1906 – January 1, 1912 | |
| 7 | Reaumur C. Stearnes (1866–1945) | January 1, 1912 – February 1, 1918 | |
| 8 | Harris Hart (1877–1962) | February 1, 1918 – January 1, 1931 | |
| 9 | Sidney B. Hall | January 1, 1931 – August 31, 1941 | |
| 10 | Dabney S. Lancaster (1889–1975) | September 1, 1941 – June 15, 1946 | |
| 11 | G. Tyler Miller (1902–1988) | June 15, 1946 – August 31, 1949 | |
| – | Dowell J. Howard (1897–1957) | September 1, 1949 – May 12, 1950 | |
| 12 | Dowell J. Howard (1897–1957) | May 12, 1950 – February 23, 1957 | |
| 13 | Davis Young Paschall (1911–2001) | March 13, 1957 – August 15, 1960 | |
| 14 | Woodrow W. Wilkerson (1914–1986) | August 16, 1960 – 1975 | |
| 15 | Walter Eugene Campbell (1916–1980) | 1975 – 1979 | |
| 16 | Spear John Davis (1928–2009) | 1979 – 1990 | |
| 17 | Joseph A. Spagnolo (1943–2020) | 1990 – 1994 | Douglas Wilder |
| 18 | William C. Bosher Jr. (1946–2014) | 1994 – 1996 | |
| 19 | Richard T. LaPointe | 1996 – 1998 | |
| 20 | Paul D. Stapleton | 1998 – 1999 | |
| 21 | Jo Lynne DeMary | 2000 – 2006 | |
| – | Patricia I. Wright | 2006 – 2006 | |
| 22 | Billy K. Cannaday Jr. | 2006 – 2008 | |
| 23 | Patricia I. Wright | 2008 – 2014 | |
| 24 | Steven R. Staples | 2014 – 2018 | Terry McAuliffe |
| – | Steven M. Constantino | 2018 – 2018 | |
| 25 | James F. Lane | 2018 – 2022 | Ralph Northam |
| 26 | Jillian Balow (born 1970) | 2022 – 2023 | Glenn Youngkin |
| 27 | Lisa Coons | March 22, 2023 – Incumbent | Glenn Youngkin |