RG 073 Public Instruction/Education

The Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction was established under the 1846 Iowa Constitution, with the primary responsibility of distributing monies received by the School Fund to the counties. Numerous duties were soon added including holding teachers institutes and the general supervision of county superintendents. In 1913, the Department of Public Instruction was created by the General Assembly; it was renamed the Department of Education in 1986. The following is a partial list of record series in our holdings. A complete list is available in the Preliminary Guide to Records of the Public Instruction/Education at the Research Center in Des Moines.