1917 Smith Hughes Act - $7,161,455
The Smith-Hughes Act of 1917 was the first vocational education act, and it contained several specific elements which contributed to the isolation of vocational education from other parts of the comprehensive high school curriculum. For example, in order to receive federal funds under Smith-Hughes, each state was required to establish a state board for vocational education. This requirement led, in some states, to the establishment of a board separate from the State Board of Education. Thus two separate governance structures could exist at the state level. This in turn fostered the notion of vocational schools as separate and distinct from general secondary schools, and of vocational education as separate from "academic" education.
The Smith-Hughes Act tended to promote a segregated curriculum, with Agriculture, Homemaking, and Trade and Industrial Education segments separated not only from "academic" programs, but all other vocational programs as well.
The impact of this separation has been felt through subsequent decades in the development of separate teacher training programs, separate teacher organizations, and separate student organizations (VICA, FBLA, TSA, PBL, FHA, FFA, to name a few).
Background
On January 20, 1914, Congress approved a joint resolution authorizing President Woodrow Wilson to appoint a commission to study national aid to vocational education. The Commission on National Aid to Vocational Education was organized on April 2, 1914. Senator Hoke Smith was elected its chairman. Other members representing Congress were Senator Carroll S. Page of Vermont, Representative Dudley M. Hughes of Georgia and Representative S. D. Fess of Ohio. Several delegates were members of the NSPIE including Charles Prosser, its Executive Secretary. Other delegates represented agriculture, education, industry and labor. The resolution provided that nine members of the Commission report to Congress no later than June 1, 1914. Five of the nine delegates were members of the NSPIE, including Charles Prosser. The Commission produced a 500-page report in less than the time allotted. It covered every phase of the many problems involved in a comprehensive study of national aid to the states for the new education. It presented its findings to Congress with recommendations for a federally aided system of vocational education based on state aid and cooperation. It outlined many of the principles and arrangements, which gave both Congress and the public an understanding of the obligations to provide vocational training as a joint responsibility of both the state and the Federal Government.
In stressing the size of the problem, the Commission also stated figures from the 1910 Census Report, which showed that there were over 12,000,000 persons in the United States, both male and female, engaged in agriculture. Also, there were over 14,000,000 engaged in manufacturing, mechanical pursuits, and allied industries. It was probable, stated the report, that less than 1% of these persons had adequate preparation . The Commission also reported that there were social and educational needs for vocational education. Apart from its report to Congress on its findings, the Commission also presented a proposal for legislation including a draft of a bill for vocational education.
The persons charged with the formal responsibility for finally putting the proposed bill through the legislative process were Senator Hoke Smith and Congressman Dudley M. Hughes. They copied verbatim the Commission's bill providing federal aid and introduced it, with some necessary changes, to the representative committees as the Smith-Hughes Bill. The contribution of the NSPIE was a dominant factor in this development.
After the Bill passed the House and Senate, it was pigeonholed for a couple of years. It appeared that there was no urgency for the legislation. There were three reasons: the long illness of Congressman Hughes, Chairman of the House Committee on Education; the working out of details and agreements with the NSPIE legislative committee; and, finally, a delay in reaching agreement between the two Houses of Congress.
There were many favorable testimonies on behalf of the Bill by leading groups. President Wilson even made two speeches and sent messages to Congress on its behalf. While in 1915 there still seemed no urgency to pass the Bill, in late 1916 and early 1917, the issue of the Europeans being ahead surfaced again. Frequent discussions were heard about the need to catch up, especially with the Germans, in a war-preparedness effort. In this setting, the Smith-Hughes Act was signed by President Wilson on February 23, 1917. The Act outlined the training necessary to prepare for the nation's defense. The guidelines in the legislation allowed for 14-year old students attending secondary school, older persons not attending secondary school, and even persons already in the work force to receive training.
Indeed, World War I was threatening the nation and the world. It seemed feasible to suggest that there was a providentially inspired effort by the pioneers to complete this legislation for signature by 1917. The NSPIE was the leading group to advance the concept of vocational education and successfully lobby the Federal Government to agree to fund vocational education in the public secondary schools of the nation. The efforts of the pioneers, which began as the 19th century drew to its close, reached its zenith in 1917 at a very decisive time in the nation's history.
(source: http://scholar.lib.vt.edu/ejournals/JVTE/v16n1/smith.html)
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