European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - June 03, 1980, Darmstadt, Hesse Call it de not . New York times he country s top education officials work in a Federal building whose heating system was de signed to take advantage of the movement of the Sun. Unfortunately the builders turned the Axis 90 degrees so there arc Only Brief periods every year when the system fulfils its designers expectations. To teachers educational administrators and others who gathered for the six Day hurry of speeches and receptions marking the birth of the department of education or Edas it wants to be called to avoid the embarrassing "." it was evident that uncertainty about direction was characteristic not Only of the building but of the new $14.2 billion department itself. Shirley m. Hufste dlr the former Federal judge from los Angeles whom president Carter selected to be the country s first Secretary of education is still learning the difference Between the new math and Zero based budget ing and she and her top aides arc trying to pull the depart ment together with the knowledge that they All May be out of jobs after the november election. Most important the department of education is coming into being just when the general financial Belt tightening is limiting its opportunities to take new Hilti Stirts that would give in Clear sense of motion and identity. It s an awkward time said John Phillips president of the National association of Independent colleges and universities. The department of education was created by con Gress and signed into Law in october by Carter to fulfil his 1976 Campaign Promise to the 1.8 million member National education association. Previously Federal Edu cation activities were handled by an office headed by a official Seal of the new department of education. W 3, 1960 commissioner in the department of health education and original theory was coordination of most Federal educational activities under a single Cabinet level offi Cial but political compromises to win congressional approval led to the exclusion of major programs such As head Start the vocational programs of the veterans administration and the National science foundation which has been a dominant Force in curriculum change. The new department the 13th in the Federal govern ment thus consists primarily of the a from hew along with a number of other activities such As the National Institute of education the office of civil rights and the overseas schools previously run by the defense department. All told it embraces More than 150 agencies and has 17,000 employees including 10,000 overseas teachers. Carter predicted that the new department would elevate education within the government to the stylus that in has always enjoyed among the american peo opinions vary in Washington on whether this new status will translate into a greater share of the Federal fiscal pie for education. Michael j. Bakalis one of two Deputy under secretaries in the department believes that it Secretary will have Access to the people who have Power basically Congress and the president and she can go to the Hill and speak with the kind of authority that the former commissioners buried in hew could not he said. Ernest l. Boyer the last commissioner of education predicted that the department would stabilize Educa Tion s place in the Federal government. The roller coaster Days Are Over when it depended on How much the current Secretary of hew valued however Joseph a. Califano jr., the former Secretary of health education and welfare who fought the creation of an education department warned that it would aggravate the problem of a government plagued by special interests although she comes to her Post with Little familiarity with educational issues or the political process Hufstedler has earned a reputation As a Quick learner and an effective i fighter As far As the budgetary process is concerned. Her first major legislative priority is the administration s proposed $2 billion youth employment program which would be jointly administered by the education and labor departments. It is considered unlikely that the program now before the House will be funded but proponents Hope to get the Structure in place on paper in anticipation of an improved budget situation. The firs Sticky problems for theims department could come in the area of desegregation. In a situation that could hold important implications for the november elections Federal investigators have found a High degree of racial segregation in the state University system of Texas. In an interview Hufstedler said that she hoped to work out some new ideas for dealing with desegregation in the next decade. She argued for instance that the social context that created the neighbourhood school has now changed. The idea was to build the schools where people were during the Day she said. But commuting is now a Way of life not Only fur the Rich but for the mid dle class and it s not just poor women who Are entering the work Force. I d like to see us build schools where people work. You could have one person commute with the youngster and you d have expanded after school programs. This would reflect the Way society works today and it would bring about desegregation because work places Are far More integrated than housing she also said that she would like to develop a Superb elegant research capacity at the Federal level that would give us educational indices just like the economic in dices for the purpose of planning educational pro Grams. The new department s Advent was commemorated by a postage stamp an official Seal and the unfurling of its own Flag. To Many observers the nonstop Celebration had a More serious purpose than the advertisement of a grand opening. It was intended to underscore and expose the current tendency to neglect education or to criticize in. Hufstedler wanted to give education a voice and a pres ence in Washington just As the supporters of a separate education department lifted out of the old hew had urged. Behind the hoopla and Brave words however there remained serious concern about problems and plans Promise and Pitfalls ahead. The problems Are formidable. Although the education department is intended to pull together All education concerns and programs which have been scattered Over the Federal landscape the department has no unified Home and no Prospect of getting one in the foreseeable future. Its personnel Are in 11 makeshift locations and not All education programs will be brought under the Secretary s umbrella. Operation head Start for example a program for preschool children remains in the department of health and human services As the rest of hew has been re named. And the fact that Many education department position Are being piled with people who Are unhappy about leaving their jobs at hew is known to have Cre ated morale problems. Some of the priorities stressed by Hufste dlr such As the enforcement of civil rights and equal Opportunity regulations Call for a great Deal of political clout. Even giant hew with its $200 billion budget often ran afoul of political opposition on these issues. Will the education department with its si4.2 billion budget be Able to prevail Only Strong bucking by car Ter its Mentor could do the trick. In an election year this is an unlikely scenario. Still the department is not without its pluses. Despite dire predictions Hufste dlr has managed to put together a credible management team in an election year. Representatives of higher education who had largely opposed a separate department consider her catch of Albert Bowkor for assistant Secretary of higher education a stroke of Genius. He is a master politician who has proved his Mettle at Stanford University the City University of new York and More recently he University of California at Berkeley. Critics ire already Liu Ling if Hedler for not speaking out More loudly against the administration s budget restraints but her supporters say that it would be unrealistic for her to stack Carter at this Early stage. They credit her instead for having quietly negotiated a half billion Dollar reduction in the threatened budget cuts. Some May feel that merely making the knife less pain Ful is not enough to justify the recent celebrations. In the Long run the Only Way the new department can justify its existence is by proving that it can provide a clarity and efficiency of leadership that was often lacking in the education component of Williw. The stars and stripes a dec is
