Dept of Ed

The history behind the development of a dept of ed, or department of education, is interesting.  Though the United States’ original routes are from the British Empire, the structure and development of the dept of ed has evolved in a very different fashion.

The United States’ dept of ed is different to most world countries in that it is not centralized.  Also, departments of education at the state and federal levels do not get involved in curriculum determinations or any form of standards of education.  The main part of this is done at the local, county, town or city levels.  The senior depts. of ed. are more involved in policy making, fundraising, and legal aspects, including educational laws and civil rights laws.
One of the main functions of the dept of ed is to commandeer funding from federal programs for education and to force compliance of all laws for education in respect to civil and privacy rights, in accordance with the laws set down at the federal levels.  However, this department has no jurisdiction directly over public control of an institutions educational standards or the degrees required through accreditation, a privately run process.

The first US dept of ed was established in the mid-1800’s, but by 1868, one year later, it was reduced to only just to office status.  It took just under one hundred years before the US Democratic Party successfully legislated the reestablishment of the dept. of ed. (1979).  However, its reintroduction was met with considerable controversy and saw a great deal of opposition from the US Republican Party; it was deemed as a major intrusion into public affairs by unwarranted federal bureaucracy.  During the majority of the 1980’s, the US Republican Party fought hard to end this department’s reign, but thanks to President George H.W. Bush, Sr.’s administration, the department survived.  In the middle of the 1990’s, US President Bill Clinton voiced his continued support for George Bush Sr.’s policy and in the end the opposition to the abolition of demotion of this department dwindled.

The dept of ed soon saw its importance recognized when it was elevated to the controversial cabinet level.  However, the opposition had not yet died and US President Ronald Reagan continued the campaign, trying to demote the department from its cabinet level, but failed to achieve it.  As the end of the 20th century neared, a new president, US President George W. Bush, carried on the Bush family support of the department, putting emphasis on the importance of a governing body to supervise both secondary and elementary education in the United States.  As the new millennium drew in, the United States received its biggest support of childhood education in its long history, the law that would see every child entitled to a decent and full education, no matter what background or financial status they came from.  US President George W. Bush brought the dept. of ed. into the limelight as a positive cabinet level member with the ‘No Child Left Behind Law’.