Whose job is it to educate Americans? Congress created the first Department of Education just after the Civil War as a way to help reunify a broken country. A year later, it was basically shut down. But the story of that first department's birth – and death – set the stage for everything that's come since.

Guests:

Michael Steudeman, Assistant Professor of Communication Arts and Sciences at Penn State University

Jonathan Zimmerman, Professor of History of Education at University of Pennsylvania

Christopher Span, Dean and Distinguished Professor of the Graduate School of Education at Rutgers University

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