The department of education has been around since the late 1800’s, but in the year 1979, President Carter advocated for creating a cabinet level department of Education.  According to Mr.Knowlton, the AP U.S / World history, and Government teacher at Kearns, their job “Is defined by what the president’s goals are.  They should have the same ideology as the president.  Democrats focus more on education and entitlement whereas the Republicans tend to focus more on the military and economy.”

The position for the Secretary of Education does not require any special skills to obtain. A great example for this would be with the current Secretary of Education, Betsy Devos. “She has never been in a public school, nor her children.  She has also never been a teacher, counselor, or administrator, but she did donate a large amount of money to the party,” said Mr.Knowlton.                                                                                       With this in mind, does this position serve any purpose if there are no special requirements needed?

Mr.Knowlton says, “I’m not entirely sure if they are important, because nowhere in the Constitution does it mention education.  Therefore, the states are in charge of the education system.  At the same time, it is wonderful/ almost necessary to have a Secretary of education to have national standards.  When a student graduates from the University of Utah for example, that student should be able to have the same amount/ level of schooling as a student from another college.  They also help students who are on 504’s (those are for resource students to make sure their rights are met”).  Overall, this position does seem to serve some importance and hold a lot of responsibility, yet it is ironic that there are no specific qualifications nor a certain level of education needed for the job, considering they play a role with the education system.  Hopefully the current Secretary can make sure that all students receive a good level of education.