Education

• Problems with Education

  • 54 million Americans had never finished high school.
  • 8 million had under 5 years of schooling.
  • 100,000 high school graduates with proven ability couldn't afford to enter college.
  • Schools were overcrowded and run down and there was a shortage of good teachers.
• Johnson persuaded congress to double federal expenditure in education to $8 billion.
• Two important acts channelled the money towards the poorest states and the poorest children


  • Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA)
  • The Higher Education Act (HEA)
• ESEA 1965


  • 1985- National Institute of Education estimated half of the expenditure had gone to children living above the poverty line.
  • Defenders responded that 6.7 million poor people benefited, that assistance to those above the poverty line was essential to make the measure politically acceptable and there was nothing wrong with helping all American children.
• Critics preoccupied the president paid little attention to how the legalisation worked in practise and it was difficult for the federal government to extend its reach into local school districts but the Liberals rejoiced that the law reinforced the principle of federal aid to schools and helped galvanise state governments into greater investment in education
• HEA 1965

  • Aimed to help poorer students and 11 million of them benefited from $650 million it provided
  • By 1970- 25% of college students received some financial aid- helping the number of students rise from 15% of 18-22 year old in 1950 to 34% in 1970 and 52% in 1990
  • Most people praised the act for greatly increasing opportunities for students especially those from low-income families and helped poorly funded black colleges