Department of Education Organization Act

(Measure passed Senate, amended, roll call #426 (72-11))

Department of Education Organization Act - =Title I: General Provisions= - Declares the purposes of this Act to be to: (1) insure that education receives the appropriate emphasis at the Federal levels; (2) coordinate Federal educational programs; (3) supplement and complement the educational efforts of State, local, and tribal governments, as well as the private sector; and (4) protect the rights of State, local, and tribal governments, and public and non-public educational institutions in the areas of educational policies, administration of programs, and selection of curriculums and program content.

=Title II: Establishment of Department= - Establishes an executive department to be known as the Department of Education to be headed by a Secretary of Education.

Establishes, within such Department, offices of Assistant Secretary for: (1) Special Education and Rehabilitative Services; (2) Postsecondary Education; (3) Elementary and Secondary Education; (4) Occupational, Adult, and Community Education; and (5) Educational Research and Development.

Establishes within such Department: (1) a Director of the Office of Civil Rights; (2) two additional Assistant Secretaries; (3) an Inspector General; (4) a General Counsel; and (5) an Administrator of Education for Overseas Dependent Children.

Includes, within the functions of such Department, the administration of programs relating to: (1) elementary, secondary, and postsecondary education; (2) occupational, adult, and community education; (3) grants; (4) special education and rehabilitative services; (5) certain Indian, Alaskan Native, and Aleut education; (6) schools for overseas dependents of the Department of Defense; (7: enforcement of civil rights; (8) educational research; (9) intergovernmental policies; (10) public information; and (11) congressional relations.

Establishes, within such Department, Offices of: (1) Civil Rights; (2) Elementary and Secondary Education; (3) Postsecondary Education; (4) Occupational, Adult, and Community Education; (5) Special Education and Rehabilitative Services; (6) Education for Overseas Dependent Children; (7) Educational Research and Improvement; (8) Inspector General; and (9) General Counsel.

Grants authority to the Office of Occupational, Adult and Community Education to coordinate existing educational programs in order to provide a unified approach to rural family education.

Establishes within such Department an Intergovernmental Advisory Council on Education to assure the effective coordination of Federal programs.

Establishes a Federal Interagency Committee on Education to assist the Secretary in coordinating the procedures and actions of the Department with other Federal agencies.

=Title III: Transfers of Agencies and Functions= - Transfers to the Department from the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW): (1) the Education Division of HEW including the National Institute of Education; (2) the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Education, including the National Center for Education Statistics; (3) the Institute of Museum Services; (4) any advisory committees primarily concerned with education; and (5) the Office of Handicapped Individuals.

Transfers from HEW to the Department educational functions regarding: (1) the General Education Provisions Act, including the Fund for the Improvement of Postsecondary Education Act; (2) specified provisions of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 regarding school nutrition and health services for children from low-income families; (3) the Emergency School Aid Act; (4) the Higher Education Act; (5) the Emergency Insured Student Loan Act of 1969; (6) the Environmental Education Act; (7) certain provisions of the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Education Act; (8) the International Education Act of 1966; (9) the National Defense Education Act of 1958; (10) the Education of the Handicapped Act; (11) the National Commission on Libraries and Information Science Act; (12) the Vocational Education Act of 1963; (13) the Offices of Inspector General and Civil Rights; (14) the budgetary oversight of certain educational institutions; (15) certain loans and scholarships for students in the medical and health services under the Public Health Service Act; (16) certain provisions under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973; and (17) the National Institute of Education and the Institute of Museum Services.

Transfers to the Department of Education from the Departments of: (1) Defense, the administration and operation of overseas dependents schools; (2) Justice, the student loan and grant programs known as the Law Enforcement and Education Program and the Law Enforcement Interim Program; and (3) Housing and Urban Development, the administration of college housing loans.

Transfers to the Department of Education: (1) the Advisory Council on Education Statistics; and (2) certain science education programs under the National Science Foundation.

=Title IV: Administrative Provisions= - Authorizes the Secretary to appoint and fix the salaries for the Department's employees in accordance with the civil service laws. Allows certain higher level appointments to be made by the Secretary without Civil Service Commission approval if the individual so appointed is transferred to the Department in connection with a transfer of functions under this Act.

Provides that for the first five fiscal years (after enactment of this Act) the Office of Career Education cannot be consolidated or discontinued unless: (1) Congress fails to appropriate the necessary funds; and (2) a 90-day period has passed after notification of the Senate Committee on Human Resources and the House Committee on Education and Labor of any proposed reorganization.

Grants rulemaking authority to the Secretary. Requires such rules to be in accordance with the Administrative Procedures Act and specified provisions of the General Education Provisions Act.

Authorizes the Secretary to: (1) employ experts and consultants; (2) enter into contracts with public agencies and private persons and organizations; (3) maintain, alter, or discontinue field offices; (4) construct or acquire schools (to the extent operation of schools is authorized by this Act), laboratories, and related facilities, to contract for eating and related facilities, and to provide day care centers; (5) provide and maintain various facilities for employees and their dependents at remote locations; (6) utilize, with their consent, Federal, State, local, or foreign facilities; (7) rent out departmental real property; (8) acquire necessary copyrights and patents; (9) accept and utilize gifts and bequests of real and personal property; (10) transfer funds within the Department if so authorized in an appropriation; and (11) provide technical advice to participants or potential participants in Departmental programs.

Requires Congress to prescribe a ceiling on staff personnel for the Department of Education for each fiscal year.

Authorizes the establishment of a working capital fund without fiscal year limitation for the operation of common administrative services.

Requires the Secretary to submit an annual report to the President. Authorizes appropriations necessary to carry out the provisions of this Act. Provides that, except where inconsistent with provisions of this Act, the General Education Provisions Act shall apply to functions transferred by this Act.

=Title V: Transitional, Savings, and Conforming Provisions= - Redesignates the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare as the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare as the Secretary of Health and Human Services.

=Title VI: Effective Date and Interim Appointment= - Directs that this Act shall take effect 180 days after the Secretary of Education takes office, or earlier if the President so decides. Authorizes the President to make initial interim appointments to the Department of Education under specified conditions.