Elementary and Secondary Education Act

The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) was passed by the 89th United States Congress and signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson on April 11, 1965. Part of Johnson's "War on Poverty", the act has been one of the most far-reaching pieces of federal legislation affecting education ever passed by the United States Congress, and was further emphasized and reinvented by its modern, revised No Child Left Behind Act.

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Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965

Citations
Public law	Pub. L. 89–10
Statutes at Large	79 Stat. 27
Codification
Acts amended	Pub. L. 81–874, 64 Stat. 1100; Pub. L. 83–531, 68 Stat. 533
Titles amended	20 U.S.C.: Education
U.S.C. sections created	20 U.S.C. ch. 70
Legislative history
Introduced in the House as H.R. 2362 Signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson on April 11, 1965
Major amendments
Bilingual Education Act Equal Educational Opportunities Act of 1974 Improving America's Schools Act of 1994 No Child Left Behind Act Every Student Succeeds Act

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Johnson proposed a major reform of federal education policy in the aftermath of his landslide victory in the 1964 United States presidential election, and his proposal quickly led to the passage of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. The act provides federal funding to primary and secondary education, with funds authorized for professional development, instructional materials, resources to support educational programs, and parental involvement promotion. The act emphasizes equal access to education, aiming to shorten the achievement gaps between students by providing federal funding to support schools with children from impoverished families.

Since 1965, ESEA has been modified and reauthorized by Congress several times. The Bilingual Education Act provides support for bilingual education and educational efforts for Native Americans and other groups. The Equal Educational Opportunities Act of 1974 prohibits discrimination against students and teachers. The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) introduced a testing regime designed to promote standards-based education. The Every Student Succeeds Act retained some of the testing requirements established by the NCLB, but shifted accountability provisions to the states.[1]