Vocational Education Act of 1963 and Other Statutes
The origin of vocational education in the United States can be traced back to the apprenticeship program during the colonial times. The Old Deluder Satan Act was the first law in education passed in the United States which was of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
There are various events that highlighted the existence of vocational education in America. The prominence of vocational educators particularly the African-American descents, the importance of vocational education to the African-Americans as philosophically viewed by Samuel Chapman Armstrong and Booker T. Washington and the significance of vocational training for the creation of skilled workers for the American economy are among the highlights that have contributed to the history of vocational education in America.
Different bills related to vocational education have been created and have passed to become education laws. The First Morill Act was enacted into law in 1982. This was the first land-grant college provisions passed by the US Congress. The Second Morill Act was passed in 1890. The stature passed by the US Congress required the states which had dual educational system to bestow land-grant institutions for both all-white and non-white systems.
The Smith-Hughes Act of 1917 was seen as the first sign of federal support for vocational education. Senator Hoke Smith and Representative Dudley Mays Hughes, both Democratic lawmakers from the state of Georgia, were responsible for the creation of the bill. The act established the vocational education as a federal program in the United States.
The Smith-Hughes Act of 1917 called for separation of funds and segregation of the curriculum and vocational education students. It also paved the way for the Vocational Education Act of 1963.
The Vocational Education Act of 1963 provided a broad definition of vocational education. It still supported the system that entailed the separation of vocational education system from other systems of education.
The Vocational Education Act of 1963 also made a provision that integrated more vocational programs in comprehensive secondary institutions, such as commerce and health occupational programs. It also called for the enhancement of programs of vocational education.
The provisions of services and programs catered for disabled students and students with special needs were included in the Vocational Education Act of 1963.
The call for a specific funding particularly to programs for disadvantaged students led to change in the Vocational Education Act of 1963. The 1968 Amendments to the Vocational Education Act called for improved quality in vocational education programs.
Other vocational education statutes have been devised and passed. They include Carl D. Perkins Vocational Education Act of 1984, School-to-Work Opportunities Act of 1994 and Carl D. Perkins Vocational and Technical Education Act which was signed by President Clinton in 1998.
