Education policy of the United States
The federal government of the United States has limited authority to act on education, and education policy serves to support the education systems of state and local governments through funding and regulation of elementary, secondary, and post-secondary education. The Department of Education serves as the primary government organization responsible for enacting federal education policy in the United States.
American education policy first emerged when the Congress of the Confederation oversaw the establishment of schools in American territories, and the government's role in shaping education policy expanded through the creation of land-grant universities in the 19th century. Federal oversight of education continued to increase during the desegregation of schools and the Great Society program. The Elementary and Secondary Education Act and the Higher Education Act were passed in 1965, forming the basis of subsequent education policy in the United States. The Education for All Handicapped Children Act expanded access for students with disabilities in 1975.
The federal government is responsible for ensuring that state education laws and school practices comply with the Constitution of the United States. This includes protecting the Constitutional rights of students, ensuring students have equal access to education, and governing the presence of religion in schools. Another role of the federal government is to provide state governments with funding for public schools. The government also implements other policies or requires states to do so as a condition of federal funding, including child care programs, safety regulations, and standardized tests. The federal government's role in higher education is limited, though it does provide financial support for qualifying students and institutions.
Policy development
The Constitution does not mention education, and the Tenth Amendment to the Constitution has been interpreted to give authority over education to the states. Regulation and funding of education is primarily handled by state and local governments, and the federal government provides only 8% of K-12 education funding in the United States. Congress does not have direct authority over education, so federal education policy is enforced by requiring compliance in order to receive federal funding. As a result, independent schools are not subject to federal education policy unless they are recipients of federal funding. In some cases, federal court rulings may influence education policy by striking down certain practices as unconstitutional. Schools in Washington, D.C. operate under the jurisdiction of the federal government. Federal education laws are codified as part of Title 20 of the United States Code.The Department of Education carries out the education policy of the United States. The stated mission of the department is to "promote student achievement and preparation for global competitiveness by fostering educational excellence and ensuring equal access". The existence of the Department of Education is controversial, with notable Republicans such as Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump criticizing it for expanding the federal government and the Republican Party platform at times calling for its abolition. Other executive departments also contribute to education. The Department of Defense Education Activity and the Bureau of Indian Education operate federally run school systems. Within the Department of State, the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs facilitates student exchange programs for foreign students to study in the United States and American students to study abroad.
History
Early history
Under the Articles of Confederation, the Congress of the Confederation was responsible for overseeing the territories of the United States. Under this authority, Congress passed the earliest national laws addressing education. The Land Ordinance of 1785 set aside land for the construction of schools in the west, and the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 authorized the Northwest Territory to construct schools. The Department of Education was first established in 1867 to collect statistics on education in the United States, though it was demoted to the Office of Education and moved into the Department of the Interior the following year. The Civil Rights Act of 1875 guaranteed access to public schools regardless of race, but the Supreme Court ruled that it was unconstitutional in the Civil Rights Cases in 1883. The court also ruled that separate but equal facilities were constitutional in the 1896 case Plessy v. Ferguson.The Morrill Land-Grant Acts provided for the creation of land-grant universities. The first Morrill Land-Grant Act was enacted in 1862, granting federal land to each state, the profits from which were to be used to construct agricultural and mechanical schools. The second Morrill Land-Grant Act was enacted in 1890, expanding on this program with additional funding and by requiring admission of African Americans. Many states created separate universities for African American students, some of which became historically black colleges and universities. Congress increased federal funding for land-grand universities with the Adams Act in 1906, the Nelson Amendment in 1907, and the Smith–Lever Act of 1914. The Smith–Hughes Act of 1917 amended the Smith–Lever Act to provide funding for vocational education in high schools.
New Deal and World War II
In 1931, President Herbert Hoover's National Advisory Committee on Education produced a report on the federal role in education, advocating federal funding but rejecting an oversight role for the federal government. However, the federal government's role in education expanded with the New Deal programs enacted in response to the Great Depression. The Roosevelt administration provided one-time grants to support struggling schools, supported teachers through the New Deal's work relief programs, and provided for the construction and repair of school buildings through public works programs. Despite these measures, education was not a major priority of the administration, and many benefits to school systems were incidental to the New Deal programs. The New Deal programs were intended to be temporary, and they did not increase the role of federal government in education.During and after World War II, Congress enacted new relief and benefits programs. The Lanham Act of 1940 was amended in 1941 to provide funding for the construction and operation of schools. The G.I. Bill was enacted in 1944 provided many benefits for veterans, including financial aid for education. Impact Aid laws in 1950 provided further benefits for American citizens and communities affected by the war. The benefits provided by these programs proved longer lasting than those of the New Deal. Several additional changes to education policy took place in 1946. The George–Barden Act was enacted to expand federal funding for vocational training in high schools, the National School Lunch Act of 1946 provided assistance for students to obtain school meals, and President Truman assigned a commission to write the Higher Education for American Democracy report.
Desegregation and the Great Society
Prior to 1954, schools were often segregated by race in the United States, and the Supreme Court had ruled segregation constitutional in the 1896 decision Plessy v. Ferguson. In the mid-20th century, the Supreme Court's stance began to change and it delivered a series of rulings that limited the constitutionality of segregation. In 1954, segregation in public schools was struck down entirely with Brown v. Board of Education. This decision faced strong backlash in southern states, and President Eisenhower established a military presence in Little Rock, Arkansas to enforce desegregation of public schools. Desegregation efforts continued to be enforced by the federal government through legal action for several decades afterward.Federal oversight of education was moved to the newly created Department of Health, Education, and Welfare in 1953. Following the launch of Sputnik 1 in 1957, Senator J. Lister Hill gathered support for a new education bill by marketing it as a defense bill on the advice of a Senate clerk. The National Defense Education Act was enacted in 1958 to better equip the United States in competition with the Soviet Union. The bill implemented a student loan program, provided funding for science, math, and foreign language instruction, and expanded college services such as libraries.
The Johnson administration sought to improve quality of life in the United States through the Great Society program and the war on poverty. Education was seen as the most reliable way to support the poor long term, and federal education policy was overhauled in the 1960s. The Vocational Education Act of 1963 was enacted to overhaul the Smith-Hughes Act and expand the scope of federal funding for vocational education. The Higher Education Act of 1965 was passed to increase funding for universities and help disadvantaged students afford tuition. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was also passed as part of the Great Society program. It prohibited racial discrimination in any program receiving federal funding and provided enforcement for the desegregation of public schools. Federal funding in southern states was made contingent on desegregation, and the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare set quotas for integration rates in the late 1960s.
The Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 was passed to overhaul federal oversight of K-12 education in the United States, providing federal funding to support disadvantaged students and hire more qualified teachers. The act was amended in 1967 to include additional provisions, such as dropout prevention, funding for disabled children, and new school libraries. The Bilingual Education Act was also passed to provide support for students of limited English proficiency. The passage of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act was contentious at the time, as it represented a major expansion of the federal government's role in education. The act gradually gained support among conservative members of Congress over the following decade, with reauthorization being nearly unanimous in the 1970s. The Head Start program was created in 1965 to supplement school aid and provide daycare for children of low income families.