What Does the U.S. Department of Education Do, Anyway?
Schools are run at the local level.
Issue #113 Education August 17, 2022
No ads or annoying popups ever! So instead, please see the important information at the bottom of this post. Thanks!
The United States Department of Education establishes policy and administers and coordinates most of the federal assistance allocated to education. The Department helps the president to execute education policies and implement education laws passed by Congress.
One of the goals of the Department of Education is to support educators and education in the United States, a job that is much harder in today’s environment.
The number of teachers deciding to quit the profession has skyrocketed recently. Many people think the primary reason is the low salary range most teachers receive, but that is only part of it.
There is now a war on teachers and public education that has gotten worse since the previous administration. Painting teachers, especially public school teachers, as the enemy is also the mindset of many right-wing politicians and officials. Teachers are being called “groomers” and purveyors of “radical liberal socialist” ideas.
As a retired educator, I believe that low morale is now the primary reason why so many teachers are leaving the field.
The History of the Department of Education
Schools have always been run at the state and local levels, but in 1867, under the administration of President Andrew Johnson, the Department of Education was created to collect information on schools and teaching methods that would help the states to establish effective school systems.
In 1890, the Second Morrill Act was passed, giving the now-named Office of Education the task of supporting land-grant colleges and universities. The responsibilities of the agency expanded to administering Federal aid to schools for vocational education with the passage of the 1917 Smith-Hughes Act and the 1946 George-Barden Act, which focuses on agricultural, industrial, and home economics training for high school students.
The Department of Education was also responsible for administering Federal aid to education with the 1941 Lanham Act and the 1950 Impact Aid laws that authorized payments to school districts with a high presence of military and other Federal installations to offset their expenses.
In 1944, the Department of Education helped implement the “GI Bill” for postsecondary educational assistance that led to more than 8 million World War II veterans attending college paid for by the government.
A Personal Connection
In 1958, after the Soviet Union launched the Sputnik satellite and went into space before the United States, Congress passed the National Defense Education Act (NDEA) to help America compete in the scientific and technical fields. The NDEA offered loans to college students and the improvement of science, math, and foreign language teaching in elementary and secondary schools, among other initiatives.
My mother was a nurse who was taking a career break after having my 2nd sister. In 1958, because of the NDEA, she was approached to become a science teacher because of the severe shortage and the Sputnik launch. She essentially was told: “You were a nurse, so you know enough about science to teach it!” Mom accepted the challenge and taught elementary science for three years as a student teacher while she got her Bachelor’s Degree in Education, and she also earned a Master’s Degree in Education. She then taught science and math at the elementary school level until her retirement, all made possible by the 1958 NDEA.
The 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s
The push for civil rights and equal rights in the 1960s through the 1970s expanded the role of the Department of Education and its original mission to promote equal access to education as several laws were passed:
Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964
Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972
Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973
Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965
Congress elevated the Department of Education to a Cabinet-level Agency in 1980. Although there had been different controversies with the Department of Education since its creation in the 19th century, after Ronald Reagan was elected, partly on the promise of reducing the role of the Federal government “so it would fit in a bathtub,” many Republicans have called for the elimination of the Department of Education altogether. The Trump-appointed Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos, attempted to destroy the very department she headed because she believed more in charter and religious schools than in improving public schools.
Republicans as a whole do not like Federal oversight for anything, instead wanting the states, hopefully with Republican-majority legislatures, to control everything. Since schools are managed by the states anyway, Republicans feel the Department of Education has no relevance, especially if it is going to promote diversity, inclusion, and equality, and the teaching of the true history of America instead of a white-supremacist version.
The Future of Education in the United States
Currently, public education and educators at all levels are under attack from several areas of the government in various states. The average teacher’s salary ranges from about $30,000 to $60,000, even with a Master’s Degree.
Teachers have to buy many of their own classroom supplies, and a lot of teachers have put “wish lists” on Amazon, hoping others will buy the things they need.
Meanwhile, many government officials feel it is more important to equip teachers with guns instead of computers.
Florida is addressing the teacher shortage by hiring veterans or spouses of veterans who otherwise have no education degree or experience; all the potential hires have to do is “shadow” a current teacher for a total of 12 hours and they’re hired. People wouldn’t think about replacing doctors or lawyers or people in other professional fields in the same way.
Right now, the future of public education in America looks bleak.
The Mission of the Department of Education is the same
The official mission of the Department of Education is to promote student achievement and their preparation for global competitiveness by fostering educational excellence and ensuring equal access.
What do you know and think about the role of public education in the United States? Let us know in the comments!
How us to grow!
“We Are Speaking” is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and podcast episodes and to support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber. We publish 7 days/week and 28+ issues/month. You. can upgrade your free subscription to the paid level. It costs monthly and annual paid subscribers less than 35¢ an issue. Thank you!
Thank you for checking out some of the books and businesses of the TeamOwens313 Global Creative Community:
Detroit Stories Quarterly (DSQ) Afro-futurism Magazine
The Mayonnaise Murders: a fantasy mystery novel by Keith A. Owens
The Global CREATIVE Community (GCC) Facebook Group for Independent Writers and Creative and Solo Professionals
The Global Creative Community Brand and Marketing Academy: Training and Coaching for Independent Writers and Creative and Solo Professionals
Pam’s Branding and Marketing Articles for Independent Writers and Creative and Solo Professionals on LinkedIn