Elementary and Secondary Education Act 79 Stat. 27 (1965)

• Author: Paul L. Murphy
• Pages: 876

Page 876

This first general school aid bill in American history broke an impasse that had long stymied legislation to provide federal moneys to elementary and secondary schools. Previous efforts toward such action had foundered on the question whether EDUCATION was a state, not federal, function; whether segregated school systems should receive federal aid; and whether aid to private as well as public schools would violate the FIRST AMENDMENT'S establishment clause. The segregation issue had been settled by the CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1964. The 1964 elections had filled Congress with federal aid advocates untroubled by STATES ' RIGHTS issues. The church-state controversy over federal assistance to parochial schools continued but was generally resolved here for the first time.

As passed, the measure, which appealed to the CHILD BENEFIT THEORY, authorized specialized aid to districts with children from low-income families. Private schools would share in aid to some specialized services such as shared-time projects and educational television. The act gave school districts wide discretion in using the federal funds; it required, however, that the funds be used to meet the special needs of educationally deprived children and that private schools be included in any benefit sharing. The act also authorized for five years grants to states for purchase of textbooks and library material, and for funding supplementary community educational services that schools could not provide. It expanded the 1954 Cooperative Research Act, authorizing a five-year program of grants for new research and...