Benchmark+12

Section 10 Group 2

Benchmark- Department of Education Organization Act of 1980

Basic Summary of Benchmark:

The Department of Education Act of 1980 was an influential educational policy that shaped how we think about education on a wide range of aspects such as, strengthening the Federal commitment to assuring access to equal educational opportunity for every individual, supplementing and complementing 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 and encourage the increased involvement of the public, parents, and students in Federal education programs. It also, Promotes improvements in the quality and usefulness of education through Federally supported research, evaluation, and sharing of information, improves the coordination of Federal education programs and the management of Federal education activities and finally increases the accountability of Federal education programs to the President, the Congress, and the public

Key Manifestations:

The primary function of the Department of Education is to formulate federal funding programs involving education and to enforce federal educational laws regarding privacy and civil rights. For 2006, the ED discretionary budget was $56 billion and the mandatory budget contained $13.4 billion. This budget would not be so large and not be put to proper use without the Department of Education Act of 1980. The act completely regulated the use of funds towards education in effort to promote a better educational system in the US.

Key Personnel: President Carter and the US Congress. This act is administered by the secretary of education.

Why/How a benchmark?: The Department of Education Organization Act is a benchmark because it provided funds and enforced the educational laws, such as No Child Left Behind.

Links: [|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Department_of_Education_Organization_Act] [|http://www.gao.gov/decisions/appro/304228.pdf]