The Nation’s Main K-12 Law: A Timeline of the ESEA
Federal Interactive

The Nation’s Main K-12 Law: A Timeline of the ESEA

By Alyson Klein — March 31, 2015 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print
Email Facebook LinkedIn Twitter Copy URL

The Elementary and Secondary Education Act has seen numerous changes in its 50-year history. View an interactive timeline showing milestones since the ESEA’s passage in 1965.

Related: ESEA’s 50-Year Legacy a Blend of Idealism, Policy Tensions

Alyson Klein
Assistant Editor,  Education Week
Alyson Klein is an assistant editor for Education Week.
Related Tags:
ESEA No Child Left Behind Act Federal Policy

Reporting: Alyson Klein | Design & Visualization: Laura Baker, Sumita Bannerjee, and Charles Borst
A version of this article appeared in the April 01, 2015 edition of Education Week

Events

Tue., October 06, 2026, 2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. ET
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Artificial Intelligence Webinar From Passive to Active Reading: Student Engagement in the Age of AI
What the research tells us about active reading and student engagement—and what it means for teaching in an AI-enabled world.
Content provided by Pearson
Register
Thu., October 08, 2026, 2:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. ET
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Professional Development Webinar Micro-Learning, Macro Results: Reimagining Professional Learning
Rethink professional learning with 3 strategies that personalize professional learning, validate expertise, and support educator retention.
Content provided by Mira Education & Modiv EDU
Register
Tue., October 13, 2026, 12:30 p.m. - 1:30 p.m. ET
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
School Climate & Safety Webinar There But Not Present: Rethinking Student Engagement
Learn how to recognize the early signs of disengagement and what the behavioral science reveals about which interventions actually work.
Content provided by Frontline Education
Register
See More Events

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs
Create Your Own Job Search

Read Next

Federal Opinion Public Educators Are Skeptical of the New Federal Tax Credits. They Needn't Be
Unlike vouchers, the new scholarships can benefit students choosing to attend public schools.
Deborah A. Gist & Thomas Arnett
•
5 min read
Giant tax funnel drops money into a public school building. Federal tax scholarships, public schools, private schools, charter schools
Vanessa Solis/Education Week + Getty
Federal Ed. Dept. Officially Kills Biden Rule That Added LGBTQ+ Protections to Title IX
The Education Department reinstates 2020 Title IX regulations effectively in place since early 2025.
Mark Walsh
•
4 min read
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JUNE 13: Local elementary schools participate in the annual Brooklyn Gay Pride Parade, celebrating its 30th year, June 13, 2026 in the Park Slope neighborhood of the borough of Brooklyn, New York City.
Local elementary schools participate in the annual Brooklyn Gay Pride Parade, celebrating its 30th year on June 13, 2026, in the Park Slope neighborhood of the borough of Brooklyn, New York City. The Trump administration has officially rescinded a Biden-era regulation that extended Title IX's prohibition on sex discrimination to cover discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
Andrew Lichtenstein/Corbis via Getty Images
Federal OpenAI's Models Probed Websites of Department of Education, Other Agencies
The department's office for civil rights was probed in an attempted hack, according to a report.
The Associated Press
•
3 min read
FILE - The OpenAI logo is displayed on a cell phone in front of an image generated by ChatGPT's Dall-E text-to-image model, Dec. 8, 2023, in Boston. (AP Photo/Michael Dwyer, File)
Federal Trump Administration Moves to Limit Fixes for Systemic Racism in Schools
The Trump administration has limited remedies schools can use to address systemic racial injustice.
The Associated Press
•
7 min read
Jovonia Lewis poses for a portrait outside of the Durham Board of Education building on Sept. 21, 2026, in Durham, N.C.
Jovonia Lewis poses for a portrait outside the Durham Board of Education building on Sept. 21, 2026, in Durham, N.C. In 2018, the U.S. Department of Education reached an agreement with the Durham district after finding it disproportionately suspended Black students. The second Trump administration has limited the remedies schools can use to address systemic racial injustice.
Matt Ramey/AP