The Evolving Role of Government in EducationWhat are the roles of the federal and state governments in American education? The roles of education have evolved from a historical to a current liability. Many laws and cases have impacted American education and still have a strong influence on education today, such as the church-state debate, racial desegregation, and education funding . Other relevant impacts are testing standards and special education programs that grew out of the influences of federal concerns. The purpose of this article is to examine the historical and current roles that the federal and state governments play in education. Other factors to include are individual cases and laws as well as an analysis of the church-state debate over public education. The historic effects of the federal government on American education continue to have effects on education today. We initially had no intention of providing education and currently have limited roles. It was not important to include education in American society, in fact, it was not important to include it in America's most authoritative charter, the United States Constitution for l America, written in 1787. The Constitution, the highest and most important. powerful American law did not include education or schooling in its documentation; because it was not a concern at the time (Guthrie, 2002). This then gave the federal government a limited right to be heard in American education, until the amendments were established. Therefore, the roles they played many years ago are still limited, when it comes to well-being and the importance of education today. Federal and state histories established a sense...... middle of article ......VRL&sw=w&authCount=2Myers, L . American Constitution. Amendment XIV. Manuscript submitted for publication, Legal Information Institute, Cornell Law School, Itaca, NY. Retrieved May 16, 2011, from http://topics.law.cornell.edu/constitution/amendmentxivSpellings, M. (2005). US Department of Education. 10 Facts About K-12 Education Funding. Washington, DC Retrieved May 16, 2011, from http://www2.ed.gov/about/overview/fed/10facts/index.html#returnWalton, J., Augenblick, J., Barkis, A., Silverstein, J. , Picus, L. (2003). Financial support for schools. Encyclopedia of Education. 2 (3), 884-891. Accessed May 16, 2011 http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?&id=GALE%7CCX3403200245&v=2.1&u=canyonuniv&it=r&p=GVRL&sw=wWebb, LD, Metha, A., K. Forbis J. (2010). Foundations of American Education. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Published by Merrill.