1950's Education | A Report to the President: The Committee for the White House Conference on Education—Full Report.

Report

Date: April 1956

Source: A Report to the President: The Committee for the White House Conference on Education—Full Report. Washington, D.C., April 1956, 3342–3347.

Introduction

Throughout the nineteenth century and the first half of the twentieth, strong opposition to U.S. government involvement in education was an obstacle to passing federal legislation or allocating federal funds. Some contended that such involvement was unconstitutional. For example, the Tenth Amendment reserves to the states any powers not specifically granted to the federal government—education is not mentioned in the Constitution. Others argued that federal funding meant federal control in opposition to the long-cherished tradition of local control of education in United States. Since every locality is different, it was asserted, the local authorities are in the best position to make decisions for...