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.
Rhode Island Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
State and federal funding, however, is funneled through RIDE as the State Education Agency (SEA). RIDE provides funding to LEAs on a per pupil basis, as determined by the state’s funding formula. As the SEA, RIDE is also responsible for school accountability, as required under federal law, the most recent iteration being the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), which was signed into law by President Barack Obama on December 10, 2015.