Richard P. Mills (educator)

He died on November 1, 2017, of a heart attack suffered while hiking in the Adirondack Mountains.

Under Mills' tenure, a series of scandals happened with multiple school districts on Long Island, including contractor lawyers who were being listed as full-time employees by multiple school districts and claiming lucrative public pensions and benefits. He was also criticized for the rampant "double dipping" practice by school district officials, especially on Long Island. At the top of the list was Mr. James Hunderfund, interim superintendent of Malverne, who was entitled to an annual payment of $516,245 in 2008. Each year, Mr. Mills' department granted one third of all of the waivers of New York states to "double dippers", people who collects full public pensions and earn more than $30,000 a year. Many times, top level of school district officials are rehired as top level school district officials, even before they are officially retired.

In May 2007, Mills announced that he had prostate cancer. On October 31, 2008, Mills announced he would leave his post in June 2009.

In the aftermath of that takeover in 2002 Mills appointed the new superintendent and board of education yet the academic numbers have steadily worsened along with enrollment. Yet in 2007 a state audit now found the school had overspent $12 million.

In 1995, the board of regents appointed him Commissioner of Education for New York State.

Including his calls for high standards. Since 1995 Mills has taken many unprecedented steps including the end of local school boards of education autonomy to grant diplomas through the new mandary Regents Diploma

His calls for increased education spending, doubling the amount spend on schools in NY since 1995 with NY now ranked second nationally in educational spending, with the latest spending not accounted for it is expected NY will now be first in per pupil spending.

He moved to work for the New Jersey Department of Education in the mid-1970s, where he held various administrative posts. Governor Thomas H. Kean picked him to serve as special assistant on education in 1984. In 1988, Governor Madeleine M. Kunin selected him to serve as Commissioner of Education for Vermont.

He earned a bachelor's degree in history at Middlebury College in 1966 and a master's degree in American history at Columbia University in 1967. He began his career as a history teacher at the Dalton School in Manhattan, New York City and helped found the Elizabeth Seeger School in 1971. He pursued an MBA at Columbia Business School, graduating in 1975, and an Ed.D. at Teachers College, Columbia University in 1977.

Richard Paul Mills (November 28, 1944 – November 1, 2017) was an American educator who served as the Vermont State Commissioner of Education and Commissioner of Education of the State of New York.