Biographical Sketch  

D. Kent King
Missouri Commissioner of Education

D. Kent King was appointed Commissioner of Education on September 22, 2000, by the Missouri State Board of Education. As Missouri’s top official for public education, Dr. King serves as director of the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and chief executive officer for the State Board of Education. He is only the fourth person to serve as commissioner of education since the office was created by the state constitution in 1945.

Dr. King has spent his entire career, more than 40 years, in Missouri’s public education system, serving as a teacher, principal, superintendent and state education official.

He joined the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education in 1996. For three years, he directed the Missouri School Improvement Program (MSIP), the state’s accreditation program for public school districts. In 1999, he was appointed deputy commissioner.

His primary goal, Dr. King says, “is to keep the focus on high standards and expectations for all students in Missouri.” He believes that the state and local school districts must continue to (1) push for higher academic achievement by all students; (2) recruit and retain top-quality teachers; and (3) make high-quality preschool services more widely available, because such programs are the most effective way to boost student achievement.

In November 2005, he was elected to a three-year term on the Council of Chief State School Officers’ Board of Directors.

Dr. King was born at Preston (Hickory County) in 1943. He graduated from Skyline High School, at Urbana. After earning his bachelor’s degree at Central Missouri State University, he began his career as an English teacher at Houston High School, in Texas County.

He was a teacher and principal in the Houston School District from 1964 to 1970. He served as superintendent of the Licking School District from 1971 to 1977. He was named superintendent of the Rolla School District in 1977. He held that post for 19 years, establishing his reputation as a leader in Missouri’s public education community.

He received his master’s degree from Drury College, Springfield, in 1967 and his doctorate in educational administration from Oklahoma State University in 1972.

Dr. King and his wife, Sandy, reside in Rolla. They have three grown children and five grandchildren.