Education Policy and Socioeconomic Status in Reagan’s America
Abstract:
The Reagan administration approached education policy with a new rhetoric and cut education funding on the federal level, which has impacted education policy ever since. Essentially, the Reagan administration’s education policies attempted to remove the role of the federal government in education. These cuts gave more power to local governments, leading to potentially lower socioeconomic status for Americans due to poorer educational resources. The Reagan administration wanted to abolish the entire Department of Education, but only managed to achieve some cuts to funding. Furthermore, the Reagan administration has impacted the rhetoric of education policy and has made the focus almost entirely on the idea of accountability, which can be seen in subsequent administrations. This rhetoric was harmful to Americans in the 1980s and has impacted how the federal government typically approaches education policy to this day. Ultimately, the Reagan administration expanded upon what the Nixon and Ford administration only spoke in words: a negative stance toward public education that influenced education policy in the 1980s.