The Evolving Federal Role
It was a moment steeped in symbolism. President Lyndon B. Johnson stood before the one-room schoolhouse in Stonewall, Texas, that he once attended. Flanked by his former teacher at the school, he signed into law the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.
That action, on April 11, 1965, was a watershed in the evolution of the federal role in American schooling, a turning point both in sheer dollars—by some estimates, federal K- 12 spending tripled between 1964 and 1966—and influence on districts nationwide.
"I will never do anything in my entire life, now or in the future, that excites me more, or benefits the nation I serve more ... than what we have done with this education bill," the president proclaimed two days later in...
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