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Like most former students, I remember sitting in history class, listening somewhat begrudgingly as an earnest teacher reminded us that those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it. And like most former educators, with the benefit of hindsight after nearly a decade teaching in classrooms of my own, I’ve come to appreciate that the saying is ubiquitous for a reason.
This week, as our nation has honored the legacy of President Jimmy Carter, I’ve been inspired to reflect on — and called to learn from — the transformative mark he made on education in America.
President Carter’s legacy is profound for his leadership on the global stage and his enduring commitment to ensuring every child has access to quality education. It was under his administration in 1979 that the U.S. Department of Education was established — a landmark moment that underscored the federal government’s critical role in supporting states, districts and schools in their mission to educate our nation’s children.
As a child, a young Jimmy Carter witnessed visceral inequities in education firsthand. This experience eventually informed Carter’s political career, where his belief in opportunity and education was evident from his first election to a local school board all the way to his tenure in the White House.
Carter was the first president to mention one of his teachers in an inaugural speech. In his 1977 address, Carter thanked Julia Coleman, his favorite teacher from Plains High School, for assigning Tolstoy’s “War and Peace,” from which the president drew lifelong inspiration about how the fate of nations should be determined by their people.
Once in office, Carter converted inspiration to action. Resolute in his conviction that education is our most important national investment, he directed his administration to study what programs could be brought together in a federal Department of Education to better serve schools and students. By 1979, 267 education-related programs across 24 federal agencies were identified.