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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.
American Federation of Teachers, 10,000 members.

American Federation of Labor, 3,321,526 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 Women's Trade Union League.

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. Í 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

or imposed by law upon the Federal Board for Vocational Education shall be exercised and performed by the board as a division of the department of education. The secretary of education shall be a member of the Federal Board for Vocational Education and ex officio chairman of said board.

(d) The authority, powers, and duties conferred and imposed by law upon the Secretary of the Interior with relation to the Columbia Institution for the Deaf and Howard University shall be exercised and performed by the secretary of education.

SEC. 4. (a) Except as otherwise provided by this act, all authority, powers, and duties held, exercised, and performed by the head of any executive department in and over any bureau, office, or branch of the Government which is by this act tranferred to the department of education, or which is abolished by this act and its authority, powers, and duties transferred to the department of education, or in and over any business arising therefrom or pertaining thereto, or in relation to the duties performed by and authority conferred by law upon such bureau, office, or branch of the Government, whether of an appellate or revisory character or otherwise, shall be vested in and exercised and performed by the secretary of education."

(b) All orders, rules, and regulations which have been made or issued by any bureau, office, or branch of the Government which is transferred under the provisions of this act to the department of education and which are not inconsistent with the provisions of this act shall continue in effect until modified, superseded, or repealed by the secretary of education, or, in the case of the Federal Board for Vocational Education, by the board with the approval of the secretary of education.

SEC. 5. All officers, and employees employed in or by any office, bureau, or branch of the Government, transferred in accordance with the provisions of this act to the department of education, are transferred to the department of education without change in classification or compensation; and the records and property (including office equipment) of any such office, bureau, or branch of the Government so transferred, are transferred to the department of education.

SEC. 6. The secretary of education shall have charge in the buildings and premises occupied by or assigned to the department of education, of the library, furniture, fixtures, records, and other property pertaining to the department or hereafter acquired for use in its business. Until other quarters are provided, the department of education may occupy the buildings and premises occupied by the bureaus, offices, and branches of the Government which are by this act transferred to or included in the department of education.

SEC. 7. In order to coordinate the educational activities carried on by the several executive departments, and to recommend ways and means of improving the educational work of the Federal Government, there is hereby created the Federal conference on education which shall consist of one representative and one alternate appointed by the head of each department. The Federal conference on education shall not report as a body to any one department, but each representative shall report the findings of the Federal conference on education to his own department for consideration and independent action.

SEC. 8. (a) The department of education shall collect such statistics and facts as shall show the condition and progress of education in the several States and in foreign countries. In order to aid the people of the several States in establishing and maintaining more efficient schools and school systems, in devising better methods of organization, administration and financing of education, in developing better types of school buildings and in providing for their use, in improving methods of teaching, and in developing more adequate curricula and courses of study, research shall be undertaken in (1) rural education; (2) elementary education; (3) secondary education; (4) higher education; (5) professional education; (6) physical education, including health education and recreation; (7) special education for the mentally and physically handicapped; (8) the training of teachers; (9) immigrant education; (10) adult education; and (11) such other fields as in the judgment of the secretary of education may require attention and study.

(b) The department shall make available to educational officers in the several States and to other persons interested in education the results of the research and investigations conducted by it, and the funds appropriated for printing and binding for the department of education shall be available for the printing and binding of the results of such research and investigations.

SEC. 9. For the fiscal year ending June 30, 1929, and annually thereafter, the sum of $1,500,000, or so much thereof as may be necessary, is hereby authorized

to be appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, to the department of education for the purpose of paying salaries and the conducting of studies and investigations, the paying of incidental and traveling expenses incurred in connection with the investigations or inquiries undertaken by the department and for law books, books of reference and periodicals and for the paying of rent where necessary, and for such other purposes as may be necessary to enable the department of education to carry out the provisions of this act. All unexpended appropriations which shall be available at the time when this act takes effect in relation to the various bureaus, offices, and branches of the Government which are by this act transferred to or included in the department of education, or which are abolished by this act, and their authority, powers, and duties transferred to the department of education, shall become available for expenditure by the department of education and shall be treated the same as if such bureaus, offices, and branches of the Government had been directly named in the laws making the appropriations as part of the department of education.

SEC. 10. There is hereby created a national council on education to consult and advise with the secretary of education on subjects relating to the promotion and development of education in the United States and in its possessions, which national council shall consist of the several State superintendents of education or other State chief educational authorities by whatever title known, and one member from each of the United States possessions, viz: Alaska, Hawaiian Islands, Philippine Islands, Porto Rico, and Isthmus of Panama. The secretary of education shall be chairman of said council. The members of said council shall meet for conference once each year at the call of the secretary of education; they shall serve without pay, but their actual expenses incurred in attending the conferences called by the secretary shall be paid by the department of education.

SEC. 11. The secretary of education shall annually, at the close of each fiscal year, make a report in writing to Congress giving an account of all moneys received and disbursed by the department of education and describing the work done by the department. He shall also from time to time make such special investigations and reports as may be required of him by the President or by either House of Congress or as he, himself, may deem necessary and urgent.

SEC. 12. This act shall take effect thirty days after its passage, except that the provisions of this act in relation to the transfer of any agency from the jurisdiction and control of one officer to the jurisdiction and control of another, or in relation to the abolishment of any existing agency, or in relation to the transfer of authority, powers, and duties from one officer or agency to another, shall take effect July 1, 1929.

SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS OF THE NEW EDUCATION BILL

The following is a digest of the bill to create a department of education (S. 1584, H. R. 7), introduced in the Seventieth Congress by Senator Charles Curtis, of Kansas, and Representative Daniel Alden Reed, of New York.

Section 1 establishes an executive department to be known as the department of education. This department is to be administered by a secretary of education who shall have a status similar to that of other secretaries of the President's Cabinet.

Section 2 provides for the appointment of an assistant secretary of education at a salary of $7,500 per annum. There is also provision for a solicitor, a chief clerk, a disbursing clerk, and for other technical and clerical assistants.

Section 3 transfers the Bureau of Education from the Department of the Interior to the department of education; the secretary of education assuming the powers of the present Commissioner of Education.

The Federal Board for Vocational Education is transferred to the department of education. The board continues to exercise its present functions as a division of the department of education. The secretary of education is made a member and ex officio chairman of the Federal Board for Vocational Education.

The authority of the Secretary of the Interior with relation to the Columbia Institution for the Deaf and Howard University is transferred to the secretary of education.

Section 4 transfers to the secretary of education authority and powers exercised by the head of any executive department over any bureau or office transferred by the act to the department of education.

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All rules and regulations issued by any bureau or office, transferred to the department of education, except those of the Federal Board for Vocational Education, which are unchanged by the bill, continue in effect until modified or repealed by the secretary of education.

Section 5 provides that officers and employees of offices transferred to the department of education are transferred without change in classification or compensation; records and property of such offices are transferred to the department of education.

Section 6 places the secretary of education in charge in the buildings and other physical property of the department of education.

Section 7 creates the Federal conference on education, consisting of one representative appointed by the head of each executive department to coordinate the educational activities of the several departments and to recommend means of improving Federal educational work. The Federal conference on education does not report as a body to any one department; each representative reports the findings of the conference to his own department for consideration and independent action.

Section 8 provides that the department of education shall collect statistics and facts to show the condition and progress of education in the several States and in foreign countries. It provides that research shall be undertaken in order to aid the people of the several States in establishing and maintaining more efficient schools and school systems.

The results of the research and investigations conducted by the department shall be made available to the educational officers in the several States and to other persons interested in education.

Section 9 provides for annual appropriation of $1,500,000 to enable the department of education to carry out the provisions of the act. The unexpended appropriations of offices transferred to the department of education become available for expenditure by the department of education and shall be treated the same as if such offices had been directly named in the laws making the appropriations as a part of the department of education.

Section 10 provides for creation of a national advisory council composed of the superintendent of education or other chief educational authority in each of the States and possessions of the United States. The secretary of education shall

be chairman of the council and shall call the members together for an annual conference. Expenses in connection with this conference are to be paid by the department of education, but otherwise members of the council are to serve without remuneration.

Section 11 provides that the secretary of education shall make an annual report covering the finances and describing the work of the department. He shall make such special investigations as shall be required by the President or either House of Congress, or as he himself may deem necessary.

Section 12 provides that the act shall take effect 30 days after passage, except that the provisions effecting the transfer of any agency from the jurisdiction of one office to another shall take effect July 9, 1929.

Dr. DAVIDSON. At this time I should like to present a statement from the former chairman of the legislative commission of the National Education Association, Dr. George D. Strayer, of Columbia University. His labors in behalf of this bill have been known to many members of this committee and the Congress. He has been an ardent supporter in season and out of season of this proposal. He regrets exceedingly he can not be present this morning to participate in this. He has sent a statement, however, which I should like to have Miss Charl Williams, field secretary of the National Education Association, read for him at this time.

Miss WILLIAMS. The statement referred to is as follows:

STATEMENT OF Dr. George D. Strayer, PROFESSOR OF EDUCATIONAL ADMINISTRATION, TEACHERS COLLEGE, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY, NEW YORK CITY

I believe that the welfare of the children now enrolled in the schools of the United States is dependent upon our ability to make available to boards of education, to superintendents of schools, and to teachers throughout the Nation the results of current practice and of scientific investigation wherever undertaken.

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