When congress passed the public law in 1979 creating the Department of Education it also declared these purposes; to strengthen federal commitment to making sure everyone has equal access to education, to supplement the state and local school system, to encourage the public, parents and students to be involves in federal educational programs, to help with improvements in the school system by gathering data and sharing information with them, to improve with coordination of federal educational programs, to help improve the efficiency of educational programs, including the dispersal of funds, and also to increase the accountability of federal education programs to the president, congress, and the public ("U.S. Department of Education").
The Department of Education is fairly new itself, but it dates back to 1867 ("U.S. Department of Education"). The first Department of Education was created by President Andrew Johnson ("U.S. Department of Education"). Its main purpose was to collect information about America’s schools ("U.S. Department of Education"). Many people were afraid the Department of Education would have too much control over state and local schools, therefore it was eliminated ("U.S. Department of Education"). In 1868, the new Department of Education was an Office of Education ("U.S. Department of
References: Anderson, Nick. "Budget 2012: Department of Education." Washington Post (2011): n. pag. Web. 08 Jul 2011. . U.S. Department of Education. Washington, D.C.: , 2009. Web. 8 Jul 2011. .