The
United States Department of Education, also referred to as
ED or
the ED for (the) Education Department, is a
CabinetThe Cabinet of the United States is composed of the most senior appointed officers of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States, which are generally the heads of the federal executive departments...
-level department of the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
government. Recreated by the
Department of Education Organization ActThe Department of Education Organization Act is a United States federal law enacted in 1980.-Purpose:Congress established the United States Department of Education on May 4, 1980, in the Department of Education Organization Act...
(Public Law 96-88) and signed into law by President
Jimmy CarterJames Earl "Jimmy" Carter, Jr. is an American politician who served as the 39th President of the United States and was the recipient of the 2002 Nobel Peace Prize, the only U.S. President to have received the Prize after leaving office...
on October 17, 1979, it began operating on May 16, 1980.
The Department of Education Organization Act divided the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare into the Department of Education and the Department of Health and Human Services. The Department of Education is administered by the
United States Secretary of EducationThe United States Secretary of Education is the head of the Department of Education. The Secretary is a member of the President's Cabinet, and 16th in line of United States presidential line of succession...
.
It is by far the smallest Cabinet-level department, with about 5,000 employees. The agency's official acronym is
ED (and not
DOE, which refers to the
United States Department of EnergyThe United States Department of Energy is a Cabinet-level department of the United States government concerned with the United States' policies regarding energy and safety in handling nuclear material...
). It is also often abbreviated informally as
DoED.
Establishment
A previous Department of Education was created in 1867 but soon was demoted to an Office in 1868. As an agency not represented in the president's cabinet, it quickly became a relatively minor bureau in the Department of the Interior. In 1939, the bureau was transferred to the
Federal Security AgencyThe Federal Security Agency was an independent agency of the United States government established in 1939 pursuant to the "Reorganization Act of 1939"...
, where it was renamed the Office of Education. In 1953, the Federal Security Agency was upgraded to cabinet-level status as the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare.
Upgrading Education to cabinet level status in 1979 was controversial and opposed by many in the Republican Party, who saw the department as
unconstitutionalThe Constitution of the United States is the supreme law of the United States of America. It is the framework for the organization of the United States government and for the relationship of the federal government with the states, citizens, and all people within the United States.The first three...
, arguing that the Constitution doesn't mention
education, and deemed it an unnecessary and illegal federal bureaucratic intrusion into local affairs. However many
liberalsLiberalism in the United States is a broad political philosophy centered on the unalienable rights of the individual. The fundamental liberal ideals of freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of religion for all belief systems, and the separation of church and state, right to due process...
and Democrats see the department as constitutional under the
Commerce ClauseThe Commerce Clause is an enumerated power listed in the United States Constitution . The clause states that the United States Congress shall have power "To regulate Commerce with foreign Nations, and among the several States, and with the Indian Tribes." Courts and commentators have tended to...
, and that the funding role of the Department is constitutional under the
Taxing and Spending ClauseArticle I, Section 8, Clause 1 of the United States Constitution, is known as the Taxing and Spending Clause. It is the clause that gives the federal government of the United States its power of taxation...
.
On March 23, 2007, President
George W. BushGeorge Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
signed into law H.R. 584, which designates the ED Headquarters building as the Lyndon Baines Johnson Department of Education Building.
http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2007/03/20070323-6.html
Functions
The primary functions of the Department of Education are to "establish policy for, administer and coordinate most federal assistance to education, collect data on US schools, and to enforce federal educational laws regarding privacy and civil rights. The Department of Education does not establish schools or colleges.
The Office of the Inspector General has a unit of enforcement agents who conduct investigations and raids in connection to student loan defaults and fraud.
Unlike the systems of most other countries,
education in the United StatesEducation in the United States is mainly provided by the public sector, with control and funding coming from three levels: federal, state, and local. Child education is compulsory.Public education is universally available...
is highly decentralized, and the federal government and Department of Education are not heavily involved in determining curricula or educational standards (with the recent exception of the
No Child Left Behind ActThe No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 is a United States Act of Congress concerning the education of children in public schools.NCLB was originally proposed by the administration of George W. Bush immediately after he took office...
). This has been left to state and local school districts. The quality of educational institutions and their degrees is maintained through an informal private process known as
accreditationEducational accreditation is a type of quality assurance process under which services and operations of educational institutions or programs are evaluated by an external body to determine if applicable standards are met...
, over which the Department of Education has no direct public jurisdictional control.
The Department's mission is:
to promote student achievement and preparation for global competitiveness by fostering educational excellence and ensuring equal access. Aligned with this mission of ensuring equal access to education, the Department of Education is a member of the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness, and works with federal partners to ensure proper education for homeless and runaway youth in the United States.
Organization
Office of the SecretaryThe United States Secretary of Education is the head of the Department of Education. The Secretary is a member of the President's Cabinet, and 16th in line of United States presidential line of succession...
(OS)
- Office of Communications and Outreach (OCO)
- Office of the General Counsel (OGC)
- Office of Inspector General
- Office of Legislation and Congressional Affairs (OLCA)
- Office for Civil Rights
The Office for Civil Rights is a sub-agency of the U.S. Department of Education that is primarily focused on protecting civil rights in Federally assisted education programs and prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, handicap, age, or membership in patriotic...
(OCR)
- Institute of Education Sciences
The Institute of Education Sciences, created as part of the Education Sciences Reform Act of 2002, is the primary research arm of the United States Department of Education. It is the successor to the Office of Educational Research and Improvement . The first director of IES was Grover Whitehurst,...
(IES)
- National Center for Education Statistics
The National Center for Education Statistics is the part of the United States Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences that collects, analyzes, and publishes statistics on education and public school district finance information in the United States...
(NCES)
- National Assessment of Educational Progress
The National Assessment of Educational Progress is the largest continuing and nationally representative assessment of what our nation’s students know and can do in core subjects. NAEP is a congressionally mandated project administered by the National Center for Education Statistics , within the ...
(NAEP)
- Education Resources Information Center
ERIC - the Education Resources Information Center - is an online digital library of education research and information. ERIC is sponsored by the Institute of Education Sciences of the U.S. Department of Education...
(ERIC)
- Office of Innovation and Improvement (OII)
- Office of the Chief Financial Officer
- Office of Management
- Office of the Chief Information Officer
- Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development
- Risk Management Service
Chief Operating Officer
Office of the Under SecretaryThe Under Secretary of Education is the third highest ranking official in the United States Department of Education. The Under Secretary oversees policies, programs, and activities related to postsecondary education, vocational and adult education, and federal student aid.The Office of the Under...
(OUS)
- Office of Postsecondary Education (OPE)
- Office of Vocational and Adult Education
The Office of Vocational and Adult Education is a subdivision of the United States Department of Education. OVAE falls under the supervision of the Undersecretary, who oversees policies, programs and activities related to vocational and adult education, postsecondary education, college aid and...
(OVAE)
- Office of Federal Student Aid
Federal Student Aid, an office of the U.S. Department of Education, plays a central and essential role in America's postsecondary education community...
(FSA)
- President's Advisory Board on Tribal Colleges and Universities (WHITCU)
- President's Advisory Board on Historically Black Colleges and Universities (WHIHBCU)
Office of the Deputy SecretaryThe Deputy Secretary of Education oversees and manages the development of policies in the United States Department of Education. The Deputy Secretary focuses primarily on K–12 education policy, such as No Child Left Behind, the High School Initiative, and the Individuals with Disabilities Education...
(ODS)
- Office of Elementary and Secondary Education
Office of Elementary and Secondary Education is a division of the United States Department of Education. Its purpose is to promote academic excellence, enhance educational opportunities and equity for all of America's children and families, and to improve the quality of teaching and learning by...
(OESE)
- Office of Migrant Education
The Office of Migrant Education is a program within the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Elementary and Secondary Education that administers grant programs that provide academic and supportive services to the children of families who migrate to find work in the agricultural and fishing...
(OME)
- Student Achievement and School Accountability Programs
Student Achievement and School Accountability Programs is an office of the US Dept of Education that administers programs of financial assistance to State and local education agencies and to colleges and universities...
(SASA)
- President's Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans
- Office of English Language Acquisition, Language Enhancement and Academic Achievement for Limited English Proficient Students (OELA)
- Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services
The Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services is a program of the United States Department of Education. OSERS' official mission is "to provide leadership to achieve full integration and participation in society of people with disabilities by ensuring equal opportunity and access to,...
(OSERS)
- National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research
National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research is a United States governmental institution that provides leadership and support for a comprehensive program of research related to the rehabilitation of individuals with disabilities...
(NIDRR)
- Office of Special Education Programs
Originally created as the Bureau of the Education of the Handicapped, the Office of Special Education Programs is part of the U.S. Department of Education. OSEP provides leadership and support for professionals working with children with disabilities. Another critical role of OSEP is to protect...
(OSEP)
- Rehabilitation Services Administration
The Rehabilitation Services Administration is a federal agency under the United States Department of Education. It was established to administer portions of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973....
(RSA)
- Office of Safe and Drug Free Schools
The Office of Safe and Drug-Free Schools is a subdivision within the United States Department of Education that is responsible for assisting drug and violence prevention activities within the nation's schools....
(OSDFS)
- Office of Innovation and Improvement
Associated federal organizations
Federally aided organizations
- Gallaudet University
Gallaudet University is a federally-chartered university for the education of the deaf and hard of hearing, located in the District of Columbia, U.S...
- Howard University
Howard University is a federally chartered, non-profit, private, coeducational, nonsectarian, historically black university located in Washington, D.C., United States...
- National Technical Institute for the Deaf
The National Technical Institute for the Deaf is the first and largest technological college in the world for students who are deaf or hard of hearing...
Opposition
Opposition to the Department of Education mainly stems from conservatives, who see the department as an undermining of states rights, and
libertariansLibertarianism in the United States is a movement promoting limited government and individual liberties. Although libertarianism exists in two major forms worldwide, right-libertarianism and left-libertarianism, right-leaning libertarianism tends to be the dominant form in the United States...
who believe it gives government too much power. Many who oppose the Department's existence hold that it violates the
Tenth Amendment to the United States ConstitutionThe Tenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which is part of the Bill of Rights, was ratified on December 15, 1791...
, which states that "The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."
President
Ronald ReaganRonald Wilson Reagan was the 40th President of the United States , the 33rd Governor of California and, prior to that, a radio, film and television actor....
promised during the
1980 presidential electionThe United States presidential election of 1980 featured a contest between incumbent Democrat Jimmy Carter and his Republican opponent, Ronald Reagan, as well as Republican Congressman John B. Anderson, who ran as an independent...
to eliminate the Department of Education as a cabinet post, but he was not able to do so with a Democratic
House of RepresentativesThe United States House of Representatives is one of the two Houses of the United States Congress, the bicameral legislature which also includes the Senate.The composition and powers of the House are established in Article One of the Constitution...
. In the 1982
State of the Union"State Of The Union" is the debut single from British singer-songwriter David Ford. It had previously been featured as a demo on his official website, before appearing as a track on a CD entitled "Apology Demos EP," only on sale at live shows....
Address, he pledged:
Throughout the 1980s, the abolition of the Department of Education was a part of the Republican Party platform, but the administration of President
George H. W. BushGeorge Herbert Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 41st President of the United States . He had previously served as the 43rd Vice President of the United States , a congressman, an ambassador, and Director of Central Intelligence.Bush was born in Milton, Massachusetts, to...
declined to implement this idea, as he was in favor of the Department's existence, but rather reformed its activities.
In 1996, the Republican Party made abolition of the Department a cornerstone of their campaign promises, calling it an inappropriate federal intrusion into local, state, and family affairs. The GOP platform read:
During his 1996 presidential run, Senator
Bob DoleRobert Joseph "Bob" Dole is an American attorney and politician. Dole represented Kansas in the United States Senate from 1969 to 1996, was Gerald Ford's Vice Presidential running mate in the 1976 presidential election, and was Senate Majority Leader from 1985 to 1987 and in 1995 and 1996...
promised, "We're going to cut out the Department of Education."
In 2000, the
Republican Liberty CaucusThe Republican Liberty Caucus is a political action organization dedicated to promoting the ideals of individual liberty, limited government and free market economics within the Republican Party in the United States. It is part of the libertarian wing of the Republican Party...
passed a resolution to abolish the Department of Education.
Abolition of the organization was not pursued under the
George W. BushGeorge Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
administration, which made reform of federal education a key priority of the President's first term. In 2008, presidential candidate
Ron PaulRonald Ernest "Ron" Paul is an American physician, author and United States Congressman who is seeking to be the Republican Party candidate in the 2012 presidential election. Paul represents Texas's 14th congressional district, which covers an area south and southwest of Houston that includes...
campaigned in part on an opposition to the Department.
No Child Left Behind
Under President
George W. BushGeorge Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
, the Department primarily focused on elementary and secondary education, expanding its reach through the "
No Child Left BehindThe No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 is a United States Act of Congress concerning the education of children in public schools.NCLB was originally proposed by the administration of George W. Bush immediately after he took office...
" law. The Department's budget increased by $14B between 2002 and 2004, from $46B to $60B.
FICE code
As with other federal agencies, the ED operates with the assistance of several advisory committees. The Federal Interagency Committee on Education (FICE) is known in higher education for originating the FICE code, the six-digit institutional identifier assigned to each higher education (two-year and above) institution.
The FICE code is a six-digit identification code that was used to identify all schools doing business with the Office of Education during the early sixties. This code is no longer used in IPEDS; it has been replaced by the Office of Postsecondary Education (OPE) ID code.
Budget
For 2006, the ED discretionary budget was $56 billion and the mandatory budget contained $23.4 billion. As of 2011, the discretionary budget is $69.9 billion.
Related legislation
- 1965: Elementary and Secondary Education Act
The Elementary and Secondary Education Act , is a United States federal statute enacted April 11, 1965. It was passed as a part of President Lyndon B. Johnson's "War on Poverty" and has been the most far-reaching federal legislation affecting education ever passed by Congress...
(ESEA)
- 1965: Higher Education Act of 1965
The Higher Education Act of 1965 was legislation signed into United States law on November 8, 1965, as part of President Lyndon Johnson's Great Society domestic agenda. Johnson chose Texas State University–San Marcos as the signing site...
(HEA) (Pub. L. No. 89-329)
- 1974: Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act
The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974 is a United States federal law.It allows students with access to their education records, an opportunity to seek to have the records amended, and some control over the disclosure of information from the records...
(FERPA)
- 1974: Equal Educational Opportunities Act of 1974
The Equal Educational Opportunities Act of 1974 is a federal law of the United States of America. It prohibits discrimination against faculty, staff and students, including racial segregation of students, and requires school districts to take action to overcome barriers to students' equal...
(EEOA)
- 1975: Education for All Handicapped Children Act
The Education for All Handicapped Children Act was enacted by the United States Congress in 1975. This act required all public schools accepting federal funds to provide equal access to education and one free meal a day for children with physical and mental disabilities...
(EHA) (Pub. L. No. 94-142)
- 1978: Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment
The Protection of Pupil Rights Amendment of 1978, sometimes referred to as the Hatch Amendment, is a law intended to protect the rights of pupils and the parents of pupils in programs funded by the United States Department of Education....
- 1980: Department of Education Organization Act
The Department of Education Organization Act is a United States federal law enacted in 1980.-Purpose:Congress established the United States Department of Education on May 4, 1980, in the Department of Education Organization Act...
(Pub. L. No. 96-88)
- 1984: Equal Access Act
The Equal Access Act is a United States federal law passed in 1984 to compel federally-funded secondary schools to provide equal access to extracurricular clubs...
- 1990: The Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act
The Jeanne Clery Disclosure of Campus Security Policy and Campus Crime Statistics Act or Clery Act is a federal statute codified at , with implementing regulations in the U.S...
(Clery Act)
- 1994: Improving America's Schools Act of 1994
The Improving America's Schools Act of 1994 was a major part of the Clinton administration's efforts to reform education. It was signed in the gymnasium of Framingham High School...
- 2001: No Child Left Behind Act
The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 is a United States Act of Congress concerning the education of children in public schools.NCLB was originally proposed by the administration of George W. Bush immediately after he took office...
(NCLB)
- 2004: Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA)
- 2005: Higher Education Reconciliation Act of 2005 (HERA) (Pub. L. No. 109-171)
- 2006: Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Improvement Act
The Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act was first authorized by the federal government in 1984 and reauthorized in 1998. Named for Carl D. Perkins, the act aims to increase the quality of technical education within the United States in order to help the economy.On August 12, 2006...
- 2007: America COMPETES Act
The America Creating Opportunities to Meaningfully Promote Excellence in Technology, Education, and Science Act of 2007 or America COMPETES Act was signed by President Bush and became law on 9 August 2007. This was an Act, "To invest in innovation through research and development, and to improve...
- 2008: Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) (Pub. L. No. 110-315)
- 2009: Race to the Top
Race to the Top, abbreviated R2T, RTTT or RTT, is a $4.35 billion United States Department of Education competition designed to spur innovation and reforms in state and local district K-12 education...
- 2009: Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act
The Student Aid and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2009 is a bill introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives of the 111th United States Congress by Congressman George Miller that would expand federal Pell Grants to a maximum of $5,500 in 2010 and tie increases in Pell Grant maximum values to...
- 2010: Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010
The Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 is a law that was enacted by the 111th United States Congress, by means of the reconciliation process, in order to amend the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act...
See also
- Council for Higher Education Accreditation
The Council for Higher Education Accreditation is a United States organization of degree-granting colleges and universities. It identifies its purpose as providing national advocacy for self-regulation of academic quality through accreditation in order to certify the quality of higher education...
- Education in the United States
Education in the United States is mainly provided by the public sector, with control and funding coming from three levels: federal, state, and local. Child education is compulsory.Public education is universally available...
- Educational attainment in the United States
The educational attainment of the U.S. population is similar to that of many other industrialized countries with the vast majority of the population having completed secondary education and a rising number of college graduates that outnumber high school dropouts. As a whole, the population of the...
- Free Application for Federal Student Aid
The Free Application for Federal Student Aid is a form that can be prepared annually by current and prospective college students in the United States to determine their eligibility for student financial aid .Despite its name, the application is the gateway to...
- National Diffusion Network
The National Diffusion Network was the first federally sponsored effort to identify and spread to the nation's schools innovative education programs...
- Office of Federal Student Aid
Federal Student Aid, an office of the U.S. Department of Education, plays a central and essential role in America's postsecondary education community...
- School Improvement Grant
School Improvement Grants are grants awarded by the U.S. Department of Education to state education agencies under Section 1003 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965...
- Secretary of Education
Further reading
- Cabinetmakers: Story of the Three-Year Battle to Establish the U.S. Department of Education. Author: Robert V. Heffernan. 2001. ISBN 9780595158706
External links