North Carolina Superintendent of Public Instruction

The North Carolina Superintendent of Public Instruction is the elected head of the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction and oversees the public school systems of the state.

Superintendent of Public Instruction of North Carolina
Incumbent Catherine Truitt since January 9, 2021
Member of	Council of State
Seat	Raleigh, North Carolina
Term length	Four years
Inaugural holder	Calvin H. Wiley
Formation	January 1, 1853
Website	www.ncpublicschools.org/organization/

The Superintendent is currently an elected member of the North Carolina Council of State, chosen in a partisan election every four years. Created as an appointed office, called the "General Superintendent of Common Schools" in 1852, the office was abolished at the end of the Civil War, then reestablished as an elected office under the North Carolina Constitution of 1868.[1][2]

The Superintendent of Public Instruction also serves as a member of the North Carolina State Board of Education, the body which holds most of the authority over elementary and secondary education in the state.

Superintendents of Public Instruction

Kemp Plummer Battle

John Pool

Thomas F. Toon

The following list shows the Superintendents of Public Instruction for North Carolina and the years they served:[3][4]

• Calvin H. Wiley, 1853–1866
• (office abolished), 1866–1868
• Samuel S. Ashley, 1868–1871 (Republican)[5]
• Alexander McIver, 1871–1873[6] (Republican)[7]
• Kemp Plummer Battle, 1873 [8]
• Alexander McIver, 1873–1875 (Republican)
• Stephen D. Pool, 1875–1876 (Conservative/Democratic)[9]
• John Pool, 1876–1877 (Republican)
• John C. Scarborough, 1877–1885 (Democratic)[10]
• Sidney M. Finger, 1885–1893 (Democratic)[11]
• John C. Scarborough, 1893–1897 (Democratic)
• Charles H. Mebane, 1897–1901 (Republican)
• Thomas F. Toon, 1901–1902 (Democratic)
• James Y. Joyner, 1902–1919 (Democratic)
• Eugene C. Brooks, 1919–1923 (Democratic)
• Arch T. Allen, 1923–1934 (Democratic)
• Clyde A. Erwin, 1934–1952 (Democratic)
• Charles F. Carroll, 1952–1969 (Democratic)
• A. Craig Phillips, 1969–1989 (Democratic)
• Bob Etheridge, 1989–1996 (Democratic)
• Michael E. Ward, 1997–2004 (Democratic)
• Patricia N. Willoughby, 2004–2005 (interim)
• June Atkinson, 2005–2016 (Democratic)
• Mark Johnson, 2017–2021 (Republican)
• Catherine Truitt, 2021–present (Republican)

References

1. History of State Board of Education, Chapter 1
2. History of State Board of Education, Chapter 2
3. Connor, R.D.D. (1913). A Manual of North Carolina (PDF). Raleigh: North Carolina Historical Commission. p. 443. Retrieved April 27, 2019.
4. "The Legislative Manual and Political Register of the State of North Carolina". 1874. p. 443. Retrieved April 9, 2019.
5. "Samuel Stanford Ashley". NCpedia.
6. Governor Tod R. Caldwell appointed Alexander McIver after Samuel S. Ashley resigned.
7. Religion, Race, and Reconstruction
8. Rev. James Reid (1795-1872) was elected as Superintendent in the state general election of August 1872, but never took office due to his death in November of that year, as reported in the New York Times. Despite the fact that Alexander McIver had not vacated his office, Gov. Caldwell appointed Kemp P. Battle Superintendent upon Reid's death. Battle took the oath of office on January 15, 1873. McIver sued, saying that there has been no vacancy in his office, because Reid had never filled it. The North Carolina Supreme Court, in Battle v. McIver, found in favor of McIver, saying he was entitled to remain in office until the people could fill the position in the next general election (1874).
9. Dictionary of North Carolina Biography
10. "John Catre Scarborough". NCpedia.
11. "Sidney Michael Finger". NCpedia.