PART II. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND CHAPTER IV HISTORY OF FEDERAL PARTICIPATION IN MANPOWER DEVELOPMENT (With Emphasis Upon Policy and Precedent) A. INTRODUCTION AND SUMMARY The evolution of Federal policies affecting technical and professional manpower development is only partly separable from the history of Federal educational activities in general. However, a thorough study of that history from the viewpoint of its relationship to technical and professional training has revealed a number of policies and precedents of significance in that relationship. This one-chapter condensation of a long story emphasizes the establishment of such policies and precedents. Several writers on the subject of Federal relations to education have correctly pointed out that the Federal Government has no basic policy governing what it should or should not do in the educational field. Here, neither the Constitution nor Federal law has established a blanket policy. However, Federal actionprincipally congressional action-through the years has created a number of policies and precedents which, taken together, may be considered to constitute an overall policy. Another viewpoint might be that it has been the Federal policy to establish no general policy but to enact such measures as have appeared to be in the national interest at the time. Some legislation of the last several years contains definite statements of policy respecting limited areas of activity or specific Federal educational programs. As the importance of education to the national security and welfare has grown, the Federal Government has assumed increasing responsibilities in this field. No clear demarcation has been established between the Federal and State responsibilities, just as no clear line has been drawn between State and local responsibilities, in education. Through the years these responsibilities, as expressed in law, have overlapped and merged in varying degrees, in an ever-evolving process. Study of the history of Federal activities in education leads, however, to the discernment of some evidence that there has been a general guiding principle for these activities. The Federal motivation to action appears generally to have been a (right or wrong) conclusion that the Federal Government should undertake whatever has needed to be done in the national interest but either could not or had not been done by the States and localities. A similar philosophy has been suggested by President Eisenhower as a basis for determining the proper role of the Federal Government in general. In one respect there has been a major change in Federal policy affecting manpower development at the higher educational level. Whereas formerly the general concept was that of Federal aid to States and institutions, within the past 40 years the policy has been largely that of Federal payment for services received. However, some of the older programs of Federal participation, such as further endowment and support of the land-grant colleges, have continued, and new grants to States, such as those for training in the field of public health, have been initiated. Proposals, not enacted, for new programs of both types—that is, measures based upon the "aid" and also the "payment for services" concepts-have been introduced in Congress within the last several years. Some of the outstanding developments in the evolution of Federal policies affecting the training of technical and professional manpower have been the following: 1. Initiation of "general instruction" in the Army under the Von Steuben regulations of 1779. From this have developed the broad instructional programs of the Armed Forces, covering practically all subject fields, at all educational levels, for professional soldiers and other personnel. 2. Federal land-grants for the support of education, dating from 1785. These early grants initiated a policy of Federal aid to the Territories, and later to the States, for education. 3. Passage of the Morrill Act of 1862 providing for the endowment and support of land-grant colleges. This act established a precedent for Federal promotion of higher education in specified fields. 4. Creation of the United States Office of Education in 1867. That office has since performed important informational and service functions affecting the development of technical and professional manpower as well as education in general. 5. Initiation in 1879 of training by the Federal Government for some of its civilian employees. This activity has expanded through the years, and has included much technical and professional training. 6. Establishment of agricultural experiment stations under the Hatch Act of 1887. Federal promotion of agricultural research led to Federal promotion of research in other fields, eventually contributing to the professional training of thousands of individuals. 7. Passage of the Second Morrill Act in 1890. This started Federal money grants for instructional purposes in higher education. 8. Enactment of the Smith-Lever bill in 1914. Federal-State cooperation in extension work in agriculture and home economics was inaugurated by this act. 9. Passage of the Smith-Hughes Act in 1917. This initiated a policy of Federal cooperation with the States in support of vocational education below college grade. 10. Organization of the Reserve Officers Training Corps in 1916, amended in 1920. This was the first of several similar programs involving cooperative educational undertakings by the Federal Government and civil institutions of higher education affecting the training of professional manpower. 11. Establishment of contractual arrangements between Federal agencies and educational institutions for the performance of research during World War I. The scope of these contracts has since been greatly broadened. Many graduate students now receive indirect Federal assistance through these contracts. 12. Large-scale Federal grants and loans in aid of education during the depression of the 1930's. These established precedents for Federal promotion of education in case of economics depression or other emergency. 13. Establishment of temporary Federal agencies to carry out educational programs during the depression. These could become models for similar agencies in any period regarded as a time of emergency. 14. Initiation of an exchange-of-persons program with 16 other American Republics under the treaty of Buenos Aires, 1936. 15. Initiation of vocational training for war production workers (below college grade) and engineering, science and management war training (college level) in 1940. These large-scale Federal programs continued to 1945. 16. Passage of the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944. This established a policy of providing large-scale educational opportunities for veterans in general. 17. Approval of the Surplus Property Act of 1944. This initiated a policy of making available some Federal surplus property for educational use, thus indirectly aiding the training of technical and professional manpower. 18. Passage of the Fulbright Act of 1946. This instituted a new policy of educational exchanges with other countries which has contributed to the development of professional manpower of the United States and friendly nations. 19. Establishment of the National Science Foundation in 1950. This led to a large Federal fellowship program in the mathematical, physical, biological, engineering, and other sciences. 20. Formal recognition by the Congress in 1950 of partial Federal responsibility for construction and operation of schools in certain federally affected localities. Amendments to the 1950 legislation have not altered the basic policy. 21. Passage of Public Law 835, 84th Congress, in 1956. By providing grants for facilities for research in the health sciences this act will promote the advanced training of professional personnel in these sciences. 22. Appointment of the Committee on Education Beyond the High School and the National Committee for the Development of Scientists and Engineers, 1956. These appointments may lead to establishment of new Federal policies affecting the development of technical and professional manpower. B. ORIGIN OF POLICIES The origin of Federal policies currently affecting technical and professional manpower development antedates the Constitution. Assum ing a share of the responsibility for financing education, the Federal Government early undertook two types of activities: (1) operating educational programs of its own, and (2) aiding the Territories and later the States in financing education. Apparently the National Government's own educational pursuits, as distinguished from aid to the States for education, began with "general instruction" in the Army under the Von Steuben regulations of 1779. This was the forerunner of Federal institutional establishments for training professional soldiers. Aid to the Territories and States for education began soon thereafter. As early as in 1785 an ordinance adopted by the Congress of the Confederation concerning the disposal of public lands in the Western Territory reserved lot No. 16 of every township for the support of schools within that township. Two years later, in the Northwest Ordinance, the concept of education as being in part a national responsibility was expressed in the declaration that— Religion, morality, and knowledge being necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged. With the admission of Ohio to the Union in 1802 Congress began setting aside public lands for school support at the time of admission of a State. By agreeing to the conditions of these grants the States endorsed this policy of Federal support for education. During the 19th century the Congress also made certain monetary grants to States which were frequently used to support education. C. CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS' (Readers to whom the relationships of the Constitution to Federal educational activities are familiar might well skip the following four paragraphs. Others might find reading them initiatory to a consideration of the main theme of this chapter.) The founders of our Republic recognized the essentiality of education of the people for the maintenance of popular government. At the time of the framing of the Constitution, however, a nationwide system of public educational institutions was only a distant hope of a few statesmen and reformers. Education was then regarded almost universally as being a parental and church function, and in America there was no established national church. Proposal for Federal administration of education would have immediately raised the question: Which church shall control it? At one time during the Constitutional Convention, control over education was included in a list of specific powers being considered for assignment to the Federal Government, but the duty of administering education was among those items later deleted from the list. Since there was great difficulty in obtaining agreement on inescapable issues, the deletion of education may have been made to avoid raising a controversy which, because of the question of church control and for other reasons, would have been difficult if not impossible to resolve. Since the Constitution provided that powers not delegated to the Federal Government were reserved to the States, public educa 1 Quattlebaum, C. A. Intergovernmental Relations in Administration of Education. I. Elementary and Secondary Education, the Educational Record, April 1955, p. 174. |