Department of Education - Federal Departments

Year Founded: 1980

Employees: 4,227

Outlay: $45B / year

Employee Expense: $515.64M in 2021

The Federal Government is broken down into fifteen departments, each of which consists of a number of sub-departments and organizational groups tasked with accomplishing the Department's overall goals.

The United States Department of Education was established by the Department of Education Organization Act of 1979. The ED or DoED is tasked to give students the opportunity to achievement in our nations schools, to ensure U.S. students are competitive on a global scale, and to provide equal access to education. The Department of Educations actions include distributing federal financial aid for education, collect quantitative information on students performance, steer the nation on key education policy issues and prevent discrimination in our schools while striving for equal access for all.

Who does the Department of Education hire?

The ED hirers educators, psychiatrists, cognitive specialists, scientists, audiologists, and speech pathologists in addition to the types of positions that all organizations have such as IT, computer scientists, and cybersecurity experts, lawyers, and administrative and financial officers.

In 2021, the most common occupation employed by the Department of Education was General Attorney at 405 employees. The second largest occupation was Management And Program Analysis with 396 employees.

The Department of Education has their largest office in Washington D.C. with other smaller offices throughout the country. These satellite locations include Boston, Chicago, Kansas City, and Atlanta among others.

History of the Department of Education

In 1867 there was a Department of Education for a short time before being demoted the following year to an agency within the Department of the Interior. Over the next century, numerous agencies and organizations were created to provide federal support for education.

On October 17, 1979 President Lyndon Johnson signed legislation that consolidated these separate agencies and upgraded the new department to cabinet-level. The creation of the Education Department was highly contested. Education is not explicitly mentioned anywhere in the Constitution. As a result, many argue that the Education Department oversteps the federal government role and imposes on a state and local issue. The creation of the ED was even opposed by the American Federation of Teachers. Despite this controversy, overwhelming support by Democrats and other teacher's organizations helped to propel the legislation through Congress.

Average Pay of an Employee in the Department of Education

Agencies in the Department of Education (2021)