> The United States Department of Education (ED or DoEd), also referred to as the ED for (the) Education Department, is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government. It began operating on May 4, 1980, having been created after the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare was split into the Department of Education and the Department of Health and Human Services by the Department of Education Organization Act, which President Jimmy Carter signed into law on October 17, 1979.
> The Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW) was created on April 11, 1953, when Reorganization Plan No. 1 of 1953 became effective.
From Eisenhower's speech creating HEW:
> The purpose of this plan is to improve the administration of the vital health, education, and social-security functions now being carried on in the Federal Security Agency by giving them departmental rank.
Back to wikipedia:
> The Federal Security Agency (FSA) was an independent agency of the United States government established in 1939 pursuant to the Reorganization Act of 1939. ... The new agency originally consisted of the following major components: (1) Office of the Administrator, (2) Public Health Service (PHS), (3) Office of Education, (4) Civilian Conservation Corps, and (5) Social Security Board.
> Even though the first steps toward public education were taken in 1647 by the Massachusetts Bay Colony and land was set aside for public schools by the Congress of the Confederation in 1785, the idea of universal, free public schools did not become firmly established until the Civil War era. Even then, only half of the States had an efficient public school system.
> In 1867, Congress established the Department of Education to promote the cause of education and collect and disseminate facts and statistics about education. Until it was transferred to the FSA, the Office of Education and its predecessor organization had been part of the Department of the Interior.
So while the DoEd in name wasn't created till 1980, its forebears existed at the Federal level as long as we've had public education in the United States.
Taken from various wikipedia pages, but an overall summary is here:
There are lots of examples of this restructuring in the government. For example, it would be foolish to say we should abolish the Dept. of Veterans Affairs because we were somehow able to take care of veterans prior to it's creation in 1989.
Nice summary. What I'd also want to know is how this Department of Education has grown in its various incarnations. If it used to be a small fraction of its current state not too long ago, then even if getting rid of it entirely is unwarranted, it might still make sense to roll back its growth, so that it can focus on things where it can really add a lot of value.
I'm curious if you even understand what the Dept. of Ed does. Is it the money, because that is mostly due to Pell and other grant distributions. Is it Title IX and other enforcements? Is it enforcement of the ADA within the education system?
Like what specific functions do you think the Dept. shouldn't be doing or could be scaled back? Because, like the Dept. of Energy (which is really the Dept. of Nuclear Material Management), I think a lot of people don't understand the purpose of the Dept.
> The United States Department of Education (ED or DoEd), also referred to as the ED for (the) Education Department, is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government. It began operating on May 4, 1980, having been created after the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare was split into the Department of Education and the Department of Health and Human Services by the Department of Education Organization Act, which President Jimmy Carter signed into law on October 17, 1979.
> The Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW) was created on April 11, 1953, when Reorganization Plan No. 1 of 1953 became effective.
From Eisenhower's speech creating HEW:
> The purpose of this plan is to improve the administration of the vital health, education, and social-security functions now being carried on in the Federal Security Agency by giving them departmental rank.
Back to wikipedia:
> The Federal Security Agency (FSA) was an independent agency of the United States government established in 1939 pursuant to the Reorganization Act of 1939. ... The new agency originally consisted of the following major components: (1) Office of the Administrator, (2) Public Health Service (PHS), (3) Office of Education, (4) Civilian Conservation Corps, and (5) Social Security Board.
> Even though the first steps toward public education were taken in 1647 by the Massachusetts Bay Colony and land was set aside for public schools by the Congress of the Confederation in 1785, the idea of universal, free public schools did not become firmly established until the Civil War era. Even then, only half of the States had an efficient public school system.
> In 1867, Congress established the Department of Education to promote the cause of education and collect and disseminate facts and statistics about education. Until it was transferred to the FSA, the Office of Education and its predecessor organization had been part of the Department of the Interior.
So while the DoEd in name wasn't created till 1980, its forebears existed at the Federal level as long as we've had public education in the United States.
Taken from various wikipedia pages, but an overall summary is here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Office_of_Education