Gi Bill of Rights

GI Bill research papers, or any topic relating to the government and education, can be custom written from Paper Masters to focus on whatever aspect you need. Instrumental in educating soldiers after WWII, the GI Bill makes for an interesting study of governmental intervention.

The GI Bill of Rights is the informal name of the Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944, signed into law by Franklin D. Roosevelt, providing a number of social benefits for soldiers returning from World War II. It was American Legion publicist Jack Cenjar who dubbed the bill the "GI Bill of Rights." The GI Bill provided assistance for tuition, housing, and hospitalization.

The most well known aspects of the GI Bill of Rights are the provisions for education.

• Under the GI Bill, some 8 million servicemen received tuition, books, and even counseling services in order to pursue higher education in the first seven years after the war.
• The original GI Bill expired in 1956 - $14.5 billion had been dispersed to veterans.
• The GI Bill of Rights was instrumental in sparking the post-war economic boom of the late 1940s and 1950s

The Veterans Readjustment Act of 1966 extended the GI Bill of Rights to veterans who served in both war and peace. Other GI Bills followed, increasing the allowances granted to soldiers per month. From 1984 to 2008, these programs were administered under the Montgomery GI Bill, which largely covers educational expenses for soldiers. For every dollar that a soldier commits to his MGIB account, the government adds eight. In December 2010, the GI Bill of Rights was amended again, adding benefits to members of the National Guard, in either Active or Reserve units.

The convoluted history of the US government's role in education is marked by good intentions, ineffective policy implementation and political ineptitude. Nevertheless, a shift in societal attitudes and government focus resulted in an ever- increasing federal government function in establishing education policy that resulted in the passing of groundbreaking legislation during the last half of the twentieth century. These policies include the abolishment of racial segregation, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 and No Child Left Behind. The success of such policies can be judged by an increasing movement that supports a limited federal role in education in favor of privatization of our schools. Whether such a solution is beneficial should be analyzed in its efficiency in ridding the greatest problem facing the American education system and the future of our children; education inequality.

Political ideologies concerning the role of federal government in the US education system has progressed further than many other social movements. However, the state of our schools tells us that there is still much work to be done. True reform can only be achieved with collaboration from both federal and state governments seeking social change, funded with proper resources.