Elementary and Secondary Education Act
President Johnson signed the Elementary and Secondary Education Act into law two days later on April 9, 1965.New Titles Created by Early Amendments to 1965 LawTitle I ("Title One"), a provision of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act passed in 1965, is a program created by the U.S. Department of Education to distribute funding to schools and school districts with a high percentage of students from low-income families. Funding is distributed first to state educational agencies (SEAs) which then allocate funds to local educational agencies (LEA's) which in turn dispense funds to public schools in need. Title I also helps children from families that have migrated to the United States and youth from intervention programs who are neglected or at risk of abuse. The act appropriates money for educational purposes for the next five fiscal years until it is reauthorized. In addition, Title I appropriates money to the education system for prevention of dropouts and the improvement of schools; these appropriations are carried out for five fiscal years until reauthorization.
Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services
In 1979, Congress passed legislation that split the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare in two parts — creating the Department of Education and the Department of Health and Human Services. The Bureau of Education for the Handicapped (BEH) — established in 1967 by Title VI of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act — then became the core of the new Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services. Dr. Edwin W. Martin, Jr., then Deputy Commissioned of Education,and Director of BEH was nominated by President Carter to be the first Assistant Secretary for OSERS. He was confirmed unanimously by the Senate. The Rehabilitation Services Administration and the National Institute of Disability and Rehabilitation Research were the other components of OSERS.