Education. The terms of this plan were substantially those of the act which 13 years later created a department of education. ORIGINAL DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION REDUCED TO A BUREAU In February, 1866, the National Association of School Superintendents passed a resolution appointing three members of the association to present to Congress a memorial on the establishment of a national bureau of education. Four days later Representative James A. Garfield, Ohio, presented a bill to Congress "to establish a department of education." In March, 1867, this bill was signed by the President of the United States, and a Department of Education came into being. Little power was given to the commissioner who was head of the department though not a member of the President's Cabinet. Two years later the department was abolished and in its place the Bureau of Education was established as "Office of Education" in the Department of the Interior. At this time the salary of the commissioner was reduced from $4,000 to $3,000. During the next 40 years the movement for a department of education was brought before Congress by a number of bills. In February, 1910, a bill (H. R. 12318) was introduced by Congressman Joseph A. Goulden, New York, calling for the establishment of an executive Department of Education. Hearings were held on this bill February 2, 8, 15, and 25, 1910, but there is no record to show that the measure was ever reported from the committee. THE SMITH BILL (S. 4987) The movement for a department of education began in earnest in 1918 when the National Education Association appointed a Commission on the Emergency in Education. After an exhaustive study of the educational needs of the United States, a bill was drawn up. Like subsequent measures for a department of education through four Congresses, it embodied two great principles-the creation of a department of education with a Secretary in the President's Cabinet, and Federal aid to the States for the promotion and encouragement of education. In October, 1918, during the second session of the Sixty-fifth Congress, Senator Hoke Smith, Georgia, introduced this measure, known as the Smith bill (S. 4987), in the Senate. Hearings were held on the bill by the Senate Committee on Education and Labor on December 5, 1918, but no action was taken. THE SMITH-TOWNER BILL (S. 1017 AND H. R. 7) With the introduction of the bill in the House of Representatives by Congressman Horace Mann Towner, Iowa, in the third session of this same Congress, the measure became known as the Smith-Towner bill. It was revised and reintroduced in the Sixty-sixth Congress by Senator Hoke Smith in the Senate and by Congressman Horace Mann Towner in the House of Representatives. Joint Committee hearings were held on this bill (Smith-Towner, S. 1017 and H. R. 7) July, 1919. On January 17, 1921, it was favorably reported from the Committee on Education in the House of Representatives, and on March 1, 1921, it was also reported by the Committee on Education and Labor in the Senate, but it did not come to a vote in either House. THE TOWNER-STERLING BILL (S. 1252 AND H. R. 7) Again the bill was revised and in the special session of the SixtySeventh Congress beginning April, 1921, it was introduced by Congressman Horace Mann Towner in the House of Representatives and by Senator Thomas Sterling, South Dakota, in the Senate. Throughout the Sixty-Seventh Congress it was known as the TownerSterling bill (S. 1252 and H. R. 7). During this Congress the bill was held in the Committee on Education in both Houses, the authors of the bill considering it unwise to bring the measure out of the committees until the Joint Committee on the Reorganization of the Executive Departments of the Government should make its report. This report was not made until near the close of the Sixty-Seventh Congress, thus preventing any action on the education bill. A BILL FOR A DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WELFARE In the first session of the Sixty-Seventh Congress, on May 5, 1921, a bill providing for a department of public welfare (Fess-Kenyon bill, S. 1607 and H. R. 5837) was introduced in the Senate by Senator William S. Kenyon, Iowa, and in the House of Representatives by Congressman Simeon D. Fess, Ohio. This bill proposed to give to education a subordinate position in the department of public welfare. The measure was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor in the Senate and to the Committee on Education in the House of Representatives, and joint hearings were held before the two committees on education. The creation of such a department was seriously opposed by friends of the education bill (Towner-Sterling bill, S. 1252 and H. R. 7), and on May 18, 1921, they appeared before the members of this joint committee and voiced their opposition to a department of public welfare. Following this hearing no further action was taken by the Committee on Education of either House, and failure met all further attempts to secure a favorable report of the bill providing for a department of welfare with education as one of its subdivisions. STERLING-REED BILL (s. 1337 AND H. R. 3923) In the Sixty-eighth Congress the Sterling-Reed bill (S. 1337 and H. R. 3923), which was identical with the Towner-Sterling bili, was introduced in both Houses on December 17, 1923-in the Senate by Senator Thomas Sterling and in the House of Representatives by Congressman Daniel Alden Reed, New York. From January 22 to 25, 1924, hearings on the bill were held before the Senate Committee on Education and Labor. Practically every week, from February 20 to June 4, hearings were held before the Committee on Education in the House of Representatives. Congress adjourned on June 4 before action was taken on the Sterling-Reed bill by either committee. PROPOSED REORGANIZATION OF THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS On January 25 and 26, 1924, proponents of the Sterling-Reed bill were given an opportunity to appear before the Committee on the Reorganization of the Executive Departments of the Government to protest against a department of education and welfare as proposed in the plan presented by Walter F. Brown, chairman of the committee. On June 3 the Reorganization Committee reported out a bill for the reorganization of the executive departments of the Government (Smoot-Mapes bill, S. 3445 and H. R. 9629), which was placed on the calendar of both Houses. This bill included a department of education and relief. Congress convened on December 1, 1924, and on December 5 Congressman Frederick W. Dallinger, Massachusetts, introduced a bill (H. R. 633) for a department of education and relief. This measure was identical with that portion of the reorganization bill, Smoot-Mapes (S. 3445 and H. R. 9629) providing for the creation of such a department. On December 11 the Dallinger bill was discussed and voted on by the Committee on Education in the House of Representatives. The committee refused to vote the bill out favorably. They preferred to wait for action on the whole reorganization bill, which seemed likely to be considered in the House of Representatives. No active campaign was waged in this session of Congress for the Sterling-Reed bill. It seemed advisable, since the Reorganization Committee had actually reported a bill which was on the calendar of both Houses, to await the consideration of Congress on that measure, as it provided for a department of education and relief. On Friday, January 30, 1925, Senator Reed Smoot, Utah, attempted to make the reorganization bill the unfinished business of the Senate. His proposal was rejected by a vote of 41 to 25. THE CURTIS-REED BILL Neither the teaching profession nor the laity of the Nation was united on the question of offering Federal aid to the several states for education, as it had been presented in former bills for a department of education. There was, however, widespread conviction as to the wisdom of the creation of the new federal department. Since establishment of a department of education was in no way contingent upon further extension of federal aid, it was decided to draft the next bill with only one great provision: that is, creation of a department of education. The education bill subsequently introduced into the Sixty-Ninth Congress as S. 291 and H. R. 5000, was the result. This bill retained the sponsorship of Congressman Daniel A. Reed, New York, chairman of the Committee on Education in the House of Representatives, who introduced it in the House of Representatives on December 11, 1925. In the Senate it was introduced on December 8, 1925, by Senator Charles Curtis, Kansas, majority floor leader of the upper House. NEW REORGANIZATION BILL On December 10, 1925, a new bill for the reorganization of the executive departments of the Government (Smoot-Mapes, S. 1334 and H. R. 4770) was introduced. This bill provided for a reorganization board to cooperate with the President in making adjustments within existing departments. No aggressive action was taken to secure enactment of the measure. JOINT HEARINGS ON THE CURTIS-REED BILL On February 24, 25, and 26, 1926, joint committee hearings were held on the Curtis-Reed Bill (S. 291 and H. R. 5000). No action was taken on the bill by the Committee on Education of either House in the long session of the Sixty-Ninth Congress. THE PHIPPS BILL TO ENLARGE THE BUREAU OF EDUCATION Senator L. C. Phipps, Colorado, Chairman of the Committee on Education and Labor in the Senate, on March 11, 1926, introduced a bill (S. 3533) to extend the purpose and duties of the United States Bureau of Education. On May 6, 1926, this bill was reported favorably by the Senate Committee on Education and Labor. No action was taken on the measure by the Senate, and at the opening of the Seventieth Congress it was reintroduced as S. 1273. REINTRODUCTION OF THE CURTIS-REED BILL At the opening of the Seventieth Congress the Curtis-Reed bill was reintroduced in the Senate on December 13, 1927, by Senator Charles Curtis as S. 1584 and in the House of Representatives on December 5, 1927, by Congressman Daniel Alden Reed as H. R. 7. Support for the measure has grown as an understanding of its provisions has become more widespread. The National Education Association, whose legislative commission I represent, is bending every effort to see that the members of its profession, even the most remote one-room-school teacher, shall understand not only the principles of this bill, but why we are urging its enactment and what it would mean to education throughout the Nation. This intensive educational campaign within our organization is being carried on so that in time every Member of Congress may feel sure that the educators in his district are thoroughly informed as to the merits of this bill and are able to present arguments for the measure and to combat opposition to its enactment. Including the National Education Association, 31 great national organizations have indorsed the movement for a department of education. These organizations, with their approximate membership, follow: National Education Association, 181,000 members. National Committee for a Department of Education, 100 members. National Congress of Parents and Teachers, 1,134,714 members. General Federation of Women's Clubs, over 2,000,000 members. National League of Women Voters, 44 State organizations, 1 district organization, 1 territorial organization. Supreme Council, Scottish Rite of Freemasonry, Southern Jurisdiction, 300,000 members. International Council of Religious Education. National Council of Jewish Women. National Woman's Christian Temperance Union, 600,000 members. American Association of University Women, 33,513 members. National Federation of Business and Professional Women's Clubs, 47,000 members. General Grand Chapter, Order of the Eastern Star, 2,000, 000 members. National Board of the Young Womens Christian Association, 600,000 members. National Federation of Music Clubs. American Library Association, 10,056 members. American Vocational Association, 3,000 members. Woman's Relief Corps, 222,000 members. Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America. National Kindergarten Association, 3,000 members. American Home Economics Association, 9,000 members. American Hellenic Educational Progressive Association, 17,000 members. American Nurses' Association, 75,000 members. Osteopathic Women's National Association. National Council, Junior Order of United American Mechanics, 342,000 members. Service Star Legion (Inc.). Educational Press Association of America, 55 members. Woman's Missionary Council, Methodist Episcopal Church, South, 350,000 members. Women's Homeopathic Medical Fraternity. This list of organizations represents a total of some 29,000,000 people who have, through their official representatives, given their support and indorsement to the movement looking toward the creation of a department of education in the Cabinet of the President of the United States. Mr. Chairman, with this review of the history of the movement, we are brought down to the present moment of this hearing. I should like to ask that the full text of the bill H. R. 7 be printed in the record of the hearing at this point, and that the brief analysis of the measure that I am appending to it be printed immediately following the text of the bill. The CHAIRMAN. If there is no objection that will be done. (The bill referred to, H. R. 7, is as follows): [H. R. 7, 70th Cong. 1st sess.] ⚫ A BILL To create a department of education, and for other purposes Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That there is established at the seat of government an executive department to be known as the department of education, which shall be under the control and direction of a secretary of education to be appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate. The secretary of education shall receive a salary at the rate of $15,000 per annum. Section 158 of the Revised Statutes is amended to include the department of education, and the provisions of Title IV of the Revised Statutes, as now or hereafter amended, shall be applicable to the department. The secretary of education shall cause a seal of office to be made for the department of education of such device as the President shall approve, and judicial notice shall be taken thereof. SEC. 2. There shall be in the department of education an assistant secretary of education, to be appointed by the President, and to receive a salary of $7,500 per annum. The assistant secretary shall perform such duties as may be prescribed by the secretary of education or required by law. There shall also be a solicitor, a chief clerk, and a disbursing clerk, and such chiefs of bureaus and such scientific, technical, and clerical assistants as may be necessary to out carry the provisions of this act and as may be provided for by Congress from time to time. SEC. 3. (a) The Bureau of Education and all pertaining thereto is transferred from the Department of the Interior to the department of education. (b) The office of Commissioner of Education is abolished, and the authority, powers, and duties heretofore conferred and imposed by law upon the Commissioner of Education shall be exercised and performed by the secretary of education. (c) The Federal Board for Vocational Education is transferred to the department of education, and all the authority, powers, and duties heretofore conferred |