Composition: History & Theory: 1950 - 1959
Military Training and Service Act
Description
In The American School From the Puritans to No Child Left Behind (2008), Joel Spring notes that the 1951 passage of the universal Military Training and Service Act resulted in the increase of the number of scientists and engineers; they started moving towards the centers of power. There were amendments to the Selective Service Act which gave the choice either to remain in school or serve in the arm forces. There were harsh inequalities to this system: colleges required money (which resulted in the poor being forced into military service). In his 1957 book Education and Freedom, Rickover indicated that the U.S. was losing the battle with the Soviet Union because public schools failed to produce scientists and engineers. The resistance to federal aid to education disappeared. There was a demand to stress science after the Soviet Union lunched Sputnik I, leading to the passing of The National Defense Education Act by Congress in 1958. Eisenhower delivered a special speech to Congress outlining his program for national defense.
Date of Upload
3/14/09