U.S. Department of Education

Department of Education
Secretary:	John King Jr.
Deputy Secretary:	James Cole Jr., Acting
Annual budget:	$87.4 billion (2015)
Total employed:	4,400 (2013)
Year created:	1980
Official website:	U.S. Department of Education

Executive Departments of the United States

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Department Secretaries Marco Rubio • Scott Bessent • Pete Hegseth • Pam Bondi • Doug Burgum • Brooke Rollins • Lori Chavez-DeRemer • Robert F. Kennedy Jr. • Scott Turner • Howard Lutnick • Sean Duffy • Chris Wright • Linda McMahon • Doug Collins • Kristi Noem

The U.S. Department of Education is a United States executive department established in 1980. The department was formed to promote educational excellence and ensure equal opportunity for public schooling. Of the 15 Cabinet agencies, the U.S. Department of Education has the smallest staff and the third largest discretionary budget.

The current U.S. Secretary of Education is John King Jr. King was confirmed by the Senate on March 14, 2016, by a vote of 49-40.

After seven years in the position, Arne Duncan stepped down as secretary on December 31, 2015, and King replaced Duncan as acting secretary. Initially, King was expected to serve with the title of acting U.S. Secretary of Education, which would have allowed "him to serve during the remaining year of the Obama administration without getting the OK from Congress," according to U.S. News. President Obama then formally nominated King for U.S. Secretary of Education on February 11, 2016.

History

Education in the U.S. is primarily the responsibility of states and local districts. The United States Constitution does not mention any role for the federal government in education, and, according to the Tenth Amendment, anything not mentioned in the Constitution is left to the states to decide. A federal department of education was originally created in 1867 to help the states set up school systems by gathering information about teaching, schools and teachers. The current U.S. Department of Education was established by Congress in 1980. It united several existing offices across different agencies into a Cabinet level agency located in the executive branch. Over the years, the location of the department in the government and its name has changed several times, and its scope, number of personnel and budget has significantly increased.

The department's mission of fostering educational excellence and equal access arose out of the cultural and political events in the post-World War II era. The National Defense Education Act (NDEA), the first comprehensive federal education law, was passed by Congress in 1958 in response to the Soviet launch of Sputnik during the Cold War. The department added its "public access" mission in response to anti-poverty and civil rights legislation of the 1960s and 1970s.

Although the federal government provides only about 12 percent of the overall education spending of $1.15 trillion, the role of the federal government in setting education policy has grown considerably over the last several decades. The department implements laws passed by Congress and administers grants to states for certain programs, such as the No Child Left Behind Act, Race to the Top and Title One School Improvement Grants.

Timeline

The following is a list of important dates in the history of the federal government's role in education:

• 1862: The First Morrill Act provided the first federal aid for higher education by donating land for setting up colleges.
• 1890: The Second Morrill Act established a support system for land-grant colleges and universities.
• 1896: The U.S. Supreme Court case Plessy v. Ferguson legalized segregation in "separate but equal" schools.
• 1917: The Smith-Hughes Act extended federal aid to vocational education programs.
• 1944: The GI Bill authorized assistance to veterans for postsecondary schools.
• 1946: The Georgia-Barden Act established agricultural, industrial and home economics classes.
• 1954: The U.S. Supreme Court case ''Brown v. Board of Education'' outlawed segregation precedent set in Plessy v. Ferguson.
• 1958: The National Defense Education Act (NDEA) supported loans for college students; improved science, technology and foreign language support in elementary and secondary schools; and provided fellowships in response to the Cold War.
• 1964: Title VI of the Civil Rights Act prohibited discrimination based on race, color or national origin in public schools.
• 1965: Title I of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act gave federal aid to schools in poor rural and urban areas.
• 1965: The Higher Education Act authorized federal aid for poor postsecondary students.
• 1970: Standardized tests were given to public schools and the results were reported to the government and public in an effort to hold educators accountable.
• 1972: Title IX of the Education Amendments prohibited discrimination based on sex in public schools.
• 1973: Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act prohibited discrimination based on disability in public schools.
• 1980: Congress passed the "Department of Education Organization Act," (Public Law 96-88 of October 1979).
• 2001: The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) increased education funding and established standards-based testing reforms.
• 2010: The Race to the Top program encouraged states to compete for federal grants in education.

Structure

Mission

The U.S. Department of Education's official department mission statement is as follows:

“	ED's mission is to promote student achievement and preparation for global competitiveness by fostering educational excellence and ensuring equal access. Congress established the U.S. Department of Education (ED) on May 4, 1980, in the Department of Education Organization Act (Public Law 96-88 of October 1979). Under this law, ED's mission is to: Strengthen the Federal commitment to assuring access to equal educational opportunity for every individual; Supplement and complement the efforts of states, the local school systems and other instrumentalities of the states, the private sector, public and private nonprofit educational research institutions, community-based organizations, parents, and students to improve the quality of education; Encourage the increased involvement of the public, parents, and students in Federal education programs; Promote improvements in the quality and usefulness of education through Federally supported research, evaluation, and sharing of information; Improve the coordination of Federal education programs; Improve the management of Federal education activities; and Increase the accountability of Federal education programs to the President, the Congress, and the public.	”
—Department of Education

Leadership

The current U.S. Secretary of Education is John King Jr. King was confirmed by the Senate on March 14, 2016, by a vote of 49-40.

Recent Secretaries of Education
Secretary of Education	Years in office	Nominated by
Lamar Alexander	1991-1993	George H.W. Bush
Richard Riley	1993-2001	Bill Clinton
Roderick Paige	2001-2005	George W. Bush
Margaret Spellings	2005-2009	George W. Bush
Arne Duncan	2009-2015	Barack Obama
John King Jr.	2016-Present	Barack Obama

Historical Secretaries of Education
Secretary of Education	Years in office	Nominated by	Confirmation vote
Shirley Hufstedler	1980-1981	Jimmy Carter	81-2
Terrel Bell	1981-1985	Ronald Reagan	90-2
William J. Bennett	1985-1988	Ronald Reagan	93-0
Lauro Cavazos	1988-1990	Ronald Reagan	94-0

Organizational chart

Budget

Obama administration

<pLines Title="U.S. Department of Education Annual Budget" colors=B45F06 labels= true xlabels= true legend= true grid= true gridcolor= 000000 bgcolor=ffffff graphbgcolor= efefef graphbgtype=normal box= true boxcolor= 000000 plots= closed size= 460x300> ,Budget in billions 2009, 39.9 2010, 63.0 2011, 43.9 2012, 40.6 2013, 40.0 2014, 55.3 2015, 87.4 </pLines>

U.S. Department of Education Annual Budget
Year	Budget (in billions)	% Difference from previous year
2016	$73.8	−15.56%
2015	$87.4	58.05%
2014	$55.3	38.25%
2013	$40.0	−1.48%
2012	$40.6	−7.52%
2011	$43.9	−30.32%
2010	$63.0	57.89%
2009	$39.9	N/A

• Note: 2016 only represents the president's budget request, not an enacted budget.

Initiatives and legislation

The Obama administration

Race to the Top

See also: Race to the Top

Education policy in the U.S.

Public education in the U.S.

School choice in the U.S.

Charter schools in the U.S.

Higher education in the U.S.

Glossary of education terms

Education statistics

Race to the Top is a multi-billion dollar U.S. Department of Education competitive grant program to support education reform and innovation in state and local district K-12 education. It was initially funded with $4.35 billion by the ED Recovery Act as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and was announced by President Barack Obama and then-U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan on July 24, 2009.

The stated goal of the Race to the Top grant program was to encourage and reward states that were:

“

creating the conditions for education innovation and reform; achieving significant improvement in student outcomes, including making substantial gains in student achievement, closing achievement gaps, improving high school graduation rates, and ensuring student preparation for success in college and careers; and implementing ambitious plans in four core education reform areas.

”

Since making its first awards in 2010, the Race to the Top program has provided over $6 billion to 24 states and D.C. through three phases of the flagship competition, and 20 states during the three rounds of the "Race to the Top--Early Learning Challenge." In 2012, the Department of Education launched the first "Race to the Top--District" program, which has funded 21 states in two rounds of the competition. About 80 school districts across 21 states and D.C. have received about $500 million to support plans for college and career readiness programs, which included implementing common standards. For the fiscal year 2015, the department's budget request included $300 million for a new "Race to the Top Equity and Opportunity" competition that would provide incentives and resources for states and school districts with persisting opportunity and achievement gaps.

In order to be eligible to compete for the awards, states needed to enact four types of reforms:

• Adopt standards and assessments that prepare students to succeed in college, the workplace and the global economy.
• Build data systems to measure student growth and success, and inform teachers and principals about how to improve instruction.
• Recruit, develop, reward and retain effective teachers and principals, especially where they are most needed.
• Turn around the lowest-achieving schools.

Common Core State Standards

See also: Common Core State Standards Initiative

In order to make their Race to the Top applications more competitive, forty-eight states adopted common standards for K-12, known as the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). The White House announced a $350 million federal grant funding the development of assessments aligned to the Common Core State Standards. States that adopted these standards stood the best chance of winning grants, although technically the actual Common Core standards were not explicitly part of any federal initiative, according to the corestandards.org website.

Some claimed that the grants were a powerful incentive in getting CCSS implemented, and that these grants allowed the U.S. Department of Education to circumvent federal laws that prohibit the federal government from interfering in education at the state and local level. These incentive grants were helpful in shoring up education budgets in cash-strapped states after the financial crisis of 2008.

Jindal lawsuit
Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal (R) filed a lawsuit against the Department of Education over Common Core standards. The governor alleged the department broke federal law and violated the 10th Amendment of the United States Constitution because he argued the administration essentially forced the Common Core standards on states. In the lawsuit, Jindal explained, "The proponents of Common Core will tell you that it’s simply about one test and about standards, but that’s a ruse. Common Core is about controlling curriculum. Educators know that what’s tested is what’s taught. Make no mistake — Common Core tests will drive curriculum. Common Core supporters should own up to this fact and finally admit they want to control curriculum. These are big government elitists that believe they know better than parents and local school boards."

Teacher evaluation & merit pay
In 2012, Duncan stated that merit pay for teachers was the U.S. Department of Education's highest priority. The $4.3 billion Race to the Top fund encouraged states to implement performance pay systems for teachers, among other changes.

Union calls for Duncan's resignation
A vote by members of the National Education Association on July 4, 2014, called for Duncan's resignation. A majority of the 9,000 delegates attending the convention in Denver, Colorado made the vote because "the Department's failed education agenda focused on more high-stakes testing, grading and pitting public school students against each other based on test scores." The vote originated from the California Teachers Association after Duncan commented on the court case Vergara v. California, which dealt a blow to tenure rules in the state. Motions calling for Duncan's resignation have been raised at each of the NEA's annual meetings since 2010, but none had received the majority vote for passage. Then-NEA President Dennis Van Roekel defended the vote, claiming the union would continue to push the administration to put forward policies "that are influenced by those who know best— educators working in our classrooms and in our schools — rather than profiteers." When asked for Duncan's comments on the vote, a department spokesperson stated, "Secretary Duncan looks forward to continuing to work with NEA and its new leadership."

Another union, the American Federation of Teachers, passed a resolution on July 13, 2014, calling for Duncan's resignation if he didn't show improvement under a plan proposed by President Obama. The resolution urged the department to move away from No Child Left Behind Act and Race to the Top's "test-and-punish" tactics and move toward a system of supporting teachers and students. AFT President Randi Weingarten claimed the vote represented the union saying, "'Enough is enough.' Teachers are evaluated and their future livelihoods are linked to that. And when they fall short, they should have a chance to improve. And that’s what this special order represents." A department spokesperson said of the vote, "the transformation that educators and policymakers are leading to prepare all students for college and careers is incredibly difficult, and too often the adults fight about how to best help the kids."

Opposition to Race to the Top

• Critics argued that the Race to the Top funding model would take resources from already struggling school systems and create vast disparities in achievement. Supporters maintained that only a "small but significant" portion of Race to the Top funds would go to states with the "best, homegrown plans for education reform," and that absent these incentives, the status-quo federal funding model would continue to fail students by ignoring innovation.

• Other opponents questioned whether these reforms could adequately induce innovation. They saw Race to the Top as evidence of "cartel federalism" in line with the Bush administration's No Child Left Behind policy. They did not believe reform would be achieved by further centralization of standards because "the ends of the educational system are still set by the same small group of officials, who are protected from competition."

Support for Race to the Top

• American Federation of Teachers (AFT) president Randi Weingarten supported Race to the Top, but in May of 2013, she called for a moratorium on full implementation. According to the AFT website, Weingarten said, "Done right, Common Core standards will 'lead to a revolution in teaching and learning' that puts critical thinking, problem solving and teamwork ahead of rote memorization and endless test-taking. ...Done wrong, 'they will end up in the overflowing dustbin of abandoned reforms, with people throwing up their hands,' believing that public schools are too broken to save."

• Supporters also pointed out that Race to the Top incentivized states to design and pursue serious reforms before any money was handed out. The competition for potential grants induced reforms to improve instruction in both quality and kind across the board, not just among states who received grants.

Racial inequality patterns in education

The department's Office for Civil Rights conducted research on all 97,000 public schools in the United States and discovered several racial disparities ranging from preschool through high school. The study revealed the following:

“	Access to preschool. About 40% of public school districts do not offer preschool, and where it is available, it is mostly part-day only. Of the school districts that operate public preschool programs, barely half are available to all students within the district. Suspension of preschool children. Black students represent 18% of preschool enrollment but 42% of students suspended once, and 48% of the students suspended more than once. Access to advanced courses. Eighty-one percent (81%) of Asian-American high school students and 71% of white high school students attend high schools where the full range of math and science courses are offered (Algebra I, geometry, Algebra II, calculus, biology, chemistry, physics). However, less than half of American Indian and Native-Alaskan high school students have access to the full range of math and science courses in their high school. Black students (57%), Latino students (67%), students with disabilities (63%), and English language learner students (65%) also have less access to the full range of courses. Access to college counselors. Nationwide, one in five high schools lacks a school counselor; in Florida and Minnesota, more than two in five students lack access to a school counselor. Retention of English learners in high school. English learners make up 5% of high school enrollment but 11% of high school students held back each year.	”
—U.S. Department of Education

In President Barack Obama's 2015 budget request, a $300 million competition was added to the Race to the Top program rewarding schools using data-driven and creative solutions to improve their failing status.

Reforming the higher education accreditation process

On November 6, 2015, President Obama and then-U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan announced a number of executive actions with the goal of improving the quality of higher education by holding accreditors responsible. According to the U.S. Department of Education, "Accreditors are responsible for ensuring baseline levels of acceptable quality and performance across diverse institutions, degree types, and academic programs." The administration also announced a number of guidelines for Congress to use when creating legislation to protect students and taxpayers from abuse and fraud in the accreditation system. A summary of the executive actions and guidelines appears below:

• Executive actions:

• Publishing each accreditor's standards for evaluating student outcomes
• Increasing transparency in the accreditation process and in institutional oversight
• Increasing coordination within the Department and among accreditors, other agencies, and states to improve oversight
• Publishing key student and institutional metrics for postsecondary institutions arranged by accreditors
• Promoting greater attention to outcomes within current accreditor review processes

• Proposed legislation guidelines:

• Drive accountability through outcomes-driven and differentiated recognition
• Require robust teach-out plans and reserve funds for high-risk institutions
• Establish a set of standardized, common definitions and data reporting
• Increase transparency on an expanded set of accreditation material and actions

Education in the 50 states

• Alabama
• Alaska
• Arizona
• Arkansas
• California
• Colorado
• Connecticut
• Delaware
• Florida
• Georgia
• Hawaii
• Idaho
• Illinois
• Indiana
• Iowa
• Kansas
• Kentucky
• Louisiana
• Maine
• Maryland
• Massachusetts
• Michigan
• Minnesota
• Mississippi
• Missouri
• Montana
• Nebraska
• Nevada
• New Hampshire
• New Jersey
• New Mexico
• New York
• North Carolina
• North Dakota
• Ohio
• Oklahoma
• Oregon
• Pennsylvania
• Rhode Island
• South Carolina
• South Dakota
• Tennessee
• Texas
• Utah
• Vermont
• Virginia
• Washington
• West Virginia
• Wisconsin
• Wyoming

Recent news

This section displays the most recent stories in a Google news search for the term U.S. + Department + Education

U.S. Department of Education News Feed

See also

John King Jr. Arne Duncan U.S. Department of Defense U.S. Department of Homeland Security U.S. Department of Justice U.S. Department of Commerce U.S. Department of Labor U.S. Department of Energy

U.S. Department of Agriculture U.S. Department of the Treasury U.S. Department of State U.S. Department of Transportation U.S. Department of the Interior U.S. Department of Health and Human Services U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

External links

Suggest a link

• Official Department of Education website
• Department of Education blog
• Official Facebook page
• Official Twitter page
• Official Youtube channel