Section Title Here

Elementary and Secondary Education Act reauthorization (ESEA)
The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), originally passed in 1965, was most recently reauthorized in 2002 in what is known as the No Child Left Behind Act. ESEA calls for higher standards and accountability and emphasizes equal access to education for all children. The act authorized federally funded education programs that are administered by the states. These programs include:

• Title I: Improving the academic achievement of the disadvantaged
• Title II: Preparing, training, and recruiting high quality teachers and principals
• Title III: Language instruction for limited English proficient and immigrant students
• Title IV: 21st century schools
• Title VI: Flexibility and accountability
• Title VII: Indian education, Native Hawaiian, and Alaska Native education
• Title X: Repeals, redesignations, and amendments to other statutes

The following funding amounts were authorized by the federal government for each Fiscal Year (FY): FY 2005 $20,500,000,000; FY 2006 $22,750,000,000; FY 2007 $25,000,000,000.

In the News

Reauthorization  

Providing incentives for districts that are making progress on student achievement will be a key element of the Obama administration’s plan for renewing the ESEA, according to Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. Further, the new program should recruit effective teachers while ensuring the most capable teachers are working with the children who are struggling, and create programs that encourage the growth and development of existing educators.

An Education Week article suggests that the Race to the Top (RTTT)   program could provide a template for what the new ESEA might look like. The principles of RTTT, such as encouraging states to adopt education reform principles, are likely to be the foundation of the plans for the new ESEA [1].

Democratic and Republican leaders of the U.S. House of Representatives' Committee on Education and Labor announced plans on Thursday, February 18th for a bipartisan reform of ESEA. The committee's first hearing, which was held on February 24th, focused on charter schools. Stakeholders can send the committee their input and suggestions at ESEAcomments@mail.house.gov . The deadline for comments is March 26, 2010.

On March 15, 2010, the Obama administration outlined their blueprint for their overhaul of the ESEA. Secretary Duncan stated that there are three overarching goals to the blueprint: setting a high bar for students and schools, rewarding excellence and success, and maintaining local control and flexibility [2]. Some of the proposals include: encouraging states to raise academic standards, ending the identification of schools as “failing”, refocusing energy to turn around the schools that are struggling most, and helping states develop more effective evaluation tools [3]. 
 

President Obama’s 2011 Budget

On February 1, 2010, President Obama’s proposed budget for 2011 called for billions of dollars to be infused into early education. Specifically related to ESEA, the budget calls for a $3 billion increase in funding for programs authorized under ESEA.

[1] Education Week http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2010/01/06/16esea_ep.h29.html?tkn=LTWFelcSnrFHLqPzADdU9mR5sfqt0w8nI%2BkG

[2] http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2010/03/13/25esea.h29.html?tkn=MPMFIVw0NVZF%2BPakj5QQXnAiIVrF1yURVnUN&cmp=clp-edweek

[3] http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/subjects/n/no_child_left_behind_act/index.html?scp=3&sq=elementary%20and%20secondary%20education%20act&st=cse