<Ul> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> <Li> </Li> </Ul> <P> Education, once solely a state and local issue, now sees significant amounts of oversight and funding on the elementary and secondary levels from the federal government . This trend started slowly in the Civil War era, but increased precipitously during and following World War II, and has continued to the present day . </P> <P> The first piece of federal education legislation passed by Congress was the Morrill Land - Grant Colleges Act . This bill was passed as a means for the Federal government to provide land proportional to the number of Congressmen and Senators a state had for states to use to create agricultural colleges . The next noteworthy piece of legislation passed by Congress pertaining to education was the Smith - Hughes Act which provided federal aid to vocational education programs across the country . Through the beginning of the 20th century, the federal government had a relatively small role to play in education, and its contributions focused mainly on providing opportunities to students who would later become an important part of a well - functioning economy . This tact changed following the Great Depression and World War II though . </P> <P> The federal government's foray into public education had two main motivations, National defense and social responsibility . While they do not entirely overlap chronologically, they together served as a way for the federal government to become involved . </P>

When did the federal government get involved in education
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