Carter Signs Department of Education Organization Act

President Jimmy Carter signed the Department of Education Organization Act (P.L. 96-88) on October 17, 1979, creating a Cabinet-level federal education agency for the first time since 1868. Education Secretary Shirley Hufstedler became the department''s first leader. The act transferred education functions from the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare and established the statutory framework codified at 20 U.S.C. § 3441 that requires an act of Congress to abolish the department.