• George - Reed Act of 1929
  1) Gordon_-_Legislative_history_and_the_changing_workspace_PDF;
  2) Oklahoma Career Tech, https://www.okcareertech.org/about/careertech-system/history/1926-1950
   

  • WHAT: "The George-Reed Act, introduced by Senator Walter F. George and Representative Daniel A. Reed of New York, [and approved by President Calvin Coolidge on February 5, 1929] authorized an increase of $1 million annually for four years (1930-1934) to expand vocational education in agriculture and home economics" (Gordon).
     

  • WHY: The George-Reed Act was needed because the Hughes-Smith act was only an appropriations bill; George-Reed provided the necessary authorization to actually spend the funds mentioned above (Gordon).
     

  • IMPACT: "The administration of agricultural education and home economics were similar to the provisions of the Smith-Hughes Act with the following exceptions: (a) agricultural education funds were allotted on the basis of farm population rather than rural population,(b) home economics education funds were allotted on the basis of rural populationrather than urban" (Gordon).
     

  • "The George-Reed Act extends and amends the Smith-Hughes Act of 1917. In addition to increasing the federal support for all of vocational education, the new act gives home economics the status of an independent division (heretofore, it has been under trades and industries), and it assures home economics a fairer share of future federal funding" (Oklahoma).
     

• George - Barden Act of 1946
  1) Gordon_-_Legislative_history_and_the_changing_workspace_PDF; 2) Oklahoma Career Tech. Https://www.okcareertech.org/about
  careertech-system/history/1926-1950;
  3) Traskstream by Watermark. https://w.taskstream.com/ts/blunk1/Unit2-1917to1956.html/ubf9eu00uhf6e8ejfjflfaf6eq
   

  • WHAT: "The George-Barden Act was authored by Senator George and Representative Graham A. Barden of North Carolina as an amendment to the George-Deen Act. It authorized a larger appropriation from $14 million to $29 million annually.... Mason, Furtado, and Husted (1989) cite the following major provisions of the George-Barden Act:
    1. This act authorized $10 million for agricultural education, to be allocated
    among the states on the basis of farm population.
    2. Authority was given in the act for the expenditure of funds in support
    of two youth organizations in agriculture: the Future Farmers of America and the New Farmers of America.
    3. The act authorized $8 million for home economics, the basis of allotment being the rural population of the state.
    4. It also authorized $8 million for trade and industrial education, to be allocated among the states on the basis of nonfarm population.
    5. Funds for marketing occupations were limited to support for parttime (cooperative) and evening courses for employed workers—no
    preparatory courses in other fields were authorized.
    The act provided that after June 30,1951, not more than 10 percent of these funds could be used for the purchase or acquisition of equipment.

    • The George-Barden Act was signed by President Harry S. Truman on August 1,1946"(Gordon).

  • WHY: "One of the major factors contributing to this legislation was the need to provide a means for thousands of returning World War IIveterans to acquire employable skills in a rapidly expanding economy (Calhoun and Finch, 1982). This was a time of post-war industrial boom, when American needed cars instead of tanks"(Gordon).

  • IMPACT: "Despite the significant gains made... by industry, the revisions tend to benefit vocational agriculture relative to other programs" (Oklahoma).

  • "The most important respects in which the George-Barden Act differs from the Smith-Hughes and George-Deen Acts are: 

    • The George-Barden Act provides one appropriation for each of the four service fields and no separate appropriation for teacher training. This same procedure was followed in the case of distributive education in the George-Deen Act. A state makes its own determination of the proportion of the allotment in a given field to be used for teacher training. 

    •  Federal funds under the George-Barden Act may be used for maintenance of administration and supervision. Under the George-Deen Act federal funds could not be used for administration and only for salaries and expenses in supervision. The Smith-Hughes Act allows for salaries of supervisors of agriculture only. 

    •  Under the George-Barden Act federal funds may be used for purchase or rental of equipment and supplies for vocational instruction. Section 17 of the Smith-Hughes Act concludes with the sentence, 'No portion of any moneys appropriated under this Act for the benefit of the states shall be applied directly or indirectly, to the purchase, erection, preservation, or repair of any building (or buildings) or equipment.'

    •  The George-Barden Act, in Section 7, and the George-Deen Act, in Section 6, provide that 'the appropriations made under authority of this Act shall be subject to the same conditions and limitations as the appropriations made to carry out the Smith-Hughes Act; except that . . . @5 and here four exceptions almost identical in the two Acts follow. The George-Barden Act adds a fifth exception, namely, 'pre-employment schools and classes organized for persons over eighteen years of age or who have left the full-time school may be operated for less than nine months per year and less than thirty hours per week and without the requirement that a minimum of 50 per centum of the time must be given to shop work on a useful or productive basis.' Section 11 of the Smith-Hughes Act says that 'such schools or classes giving instruction to persons who have not entered upon employment shall require that at least half of the time of such instruction be given to practical work on a useful or productive basis, such instruction to extend over not less than nine months per year and not than thirty hours per week'" (Traskstream).
       

• George Barden Amendments of 1956 (commonly known as Health Amendments)
  1) Gordon_-_Legislative_history_and_the_changing_workspace_PDF
   

  • WHAT: "The George-Barden Act was amended to add practical nursing ($5 million) and fishery occupation ($375,000) Area vocational
    programs were provided with an annual authorization until 1962" (Gordon).

  • "...added Title II to the Vocational Education Act of 1946.... P.L. 87-22 extended this appropriation authorization an additional four years, to June 30, 1965, and deleted the phrase requiring extension and improvement" (Taskstream).

  • WHY: The purpose was to expand the list of approved instruction and to respond to the shortage of qualified nurses (Gordon; Taskstream).

  • IMPACT: (social and/or political implications)
     

• National Defense Education Act of 1958
  1) Gordon_-_Legislative_history_and_the_changing_workspace_PDF
   

  • WHAT: "Following is a summary of the major provisions of the National Defense Education Act.

    • Assistance to state and local school systems for strengthening instruction in science, mathematics, foreign languages, and other critical subjects.

    • Improvement of state statistical services.

    • Improvement of guidance counseling, testing services, and training institutes.

    • Funds for higher education, student loans, and fellowships.

    • Funds for experimentation and dissemination of information on more effective use of television, motion picture, and related media for educational purposes.

    • Funds to maintain vocational education for technical occupations,such as data processing, necessary to the national defense" (Gordon).

  • WHY: "The National Defense Education Act of 1958 was passed during the Cold War period following the Soviet Union's successful launch of Sputnik 1, the first human-made earth satellite, into space in 1957. Sputnik installed a sense of fear among Americans that U.S. technology could not compete with that of the U.S.S.R. This fear, coupled with the added tension caused by a recession, resulted in a fiercely competitive desire to reform the U.S. educational system, particularly in the sciences" (Gordon).

  • IMPACT: "This was the first act to stress the importance of science, mathematics, foreign language, and technical competencies. The focus of this act was on providing vocational training for youths, adults, and older persons, including related instruction for apprentices, designed to fit them for employment as technicians or skilled workers in scientific or technical fields" (Gordon).
     

• Area Redevelopment Act
  1) The Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental
  Relations. The Federal Role in the Federal System: the Dynamics of Growth: Volume - a-80-Vol-IV.pdf (https://library.unt.edu/gpo/acir/Reports/policy/a-80-Vol-IV.pdf).
   

  • WHAT: "This innovative and controversial measure authorized total expenditures of $394.5 million for three major forms of aid to designated redevelopment areas: loans for industrial and commercial projects, loans and grants for public facilities, and technical assistance in the form of studies and expert advice.
    The ARA also provided funds for the operation of vocational training programs and trainee subsistence. However, this-the nation’s first “manpower” program--was quickly overshadowed with the adoption of the Manpower Development and Training Act in the following year" (Advisory Commission).

  • WHY: Because of "The potential political virtues of new programs aimed at the problem of structural unemployment" (Advisory Commission).

  • IMPACT: "Despite its limited funding and short life-the ARA was abolished in 1965-the program left an enduring mark on federal unemployment policy.... the recession of 1954 and a reelection tour of areas with hard-core unemployment problems.... " (Advisory Commission).
     

• Manpower Development and
  Training Act
  1) Gordon_-_Legislative_history_and_the_changing_workspace_PDF
   

  • WHAT: "A large sum of money ($370 million) was authorized to be spent over a three-year period. Preference for retraining was given to unemployed and underemployed workers who had at least three years experience in gainful employment. A unique feature was the provision for payment of subsistence benefits during training" (Gordon).

  • WHY: "In 1962 there was fear that automation and technological change would cause unemployment among heads of families. According to Evans and Herr(1978), the Manpower Development  Training Act was created to ease this dislocation by authorizing funds for training and retraining of unemployed and underemployed adults" (Gordon).

  • IMPACT: "This act was a milestone in providing training for those who were economically disadvantaged and were not being served in regular vocational programs. Eligible trainees and potential job openings were identified by the state employment service. State vocational education departments contracted for the courses and experiences that matched the identified needs" (Gordon).
     

• Panel of Consultants
  1) Kliever, Douglas E. (1965) Vocational Education Education Act of 1963, A Case Study in Legislation. Https://eric.ed.gov
   

  • WHAT: "IN NOVEMBER 1962 A PANEL OF CONSULTANTS, ESTABLISHED BY THE PRESIDENT, TO EVALUATE THE NATIONAL VOCATIONAL EDUCATION ACTS AND MAKE RECOMMENDATIONS FOR REDIRECTING THE PROGRAM, RECOMMENDED A LARGE INCREASE IN THE FEDERAL CONTRIBUTION FOR VOCATIONAL EDUCATION, ABANDONMENT OF THE LEGISLATIVE CATEGORIES IN THE SMITH-HUGHES AND GEORGE-BARDEN ACT, NEW LEGISLATIVE CATEGORIES, AND NEW FUNDS" (Kliever).

  • WHY: "The Panel based its recommendations upon the projected need for vocational education, taking into consideration the problems of unemployment and the demand for trained workers. In his 1961 'Education Message,' President Kennedy said:
    . . . I am requesting the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare to convene an advisory body drawn from the educational profession, labor-industry, and agriculture, as well as the lay public, together with representation from the Departments of Agriculture and Labor, to be charged with the responsibility of reviewing and evaluating the current National Vocational Education Acts, and making recommendations for improving and redirecting the program" (Kliever).

  • IMPACT: "Assessing the impact of the report of the Panel of Consultants on the thinking and decisions of legislators and the public is difficult.Panels always are criticized for being prejudiced toward the President's viewpoint;in this case, the Panel was suspected of having a liberal and pro-vocational education orientation.Consequently, few congressmen who opposed vocational education were converted. Many of those who did favor vocational education were not impressed by the study. In the words of one House member, Peter Frelinghuysen (Rep.-N.J.), 'The report looks like some-thing from the third grade. I think that it is of no value.' (EDITOR'S NOTE: Congressman Frelinghuysen was referring to the Summary Report of the Panel which consisted largely of charts, diagrams and graphs.) The report, however, was not useless. First, it became the visible point for initiating recommendations for a new vocational education program.Second, and related to the above, it became a source of propaganda for theadvocates of vocational education. Third, parts of the Panel's recommendations were incorporated into theoriginal administration proposal" (Kliever).

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