The Quality of Public Education in America

There has been improvement of the public school system since its creation in America in.
More recently in the 20th and 21st centuries, President Lyndon Baines Johnson signed The
Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) in 1965 by President to improve
educational opportunity by providing school districts grants for library books, special
education centers, and providing need-based scholarships. The No Child Left
Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) was passed by the United States Act of Congress that is a
Replacing ESEA. The key points of this legislation are:

1. Annual Testing: in grades 3-8 annually in reading and mathematics. The tests had
to be aligned with state academic standards. These test scores are compared
annually.
2. Academic Progress: States were required to bring all students up to the
"proficient" level on state tests by the 2013-14 school year. If a school receiving
federal Title I funding failed to meet the target 2 years back to back, students would
be offered a choice of other public schools to attend.
3. Report Cards: Starting in 2002-03 school year, schools and school districts were
required to create school report cards analyzing different sets of data.
4. Teacher Qualifications: By the end of the 2005-06 school year, every teacher in
core content areas working in a public school had to be certified.
5. Reading First: a research-program funded at $1.02 billion in or grades K-3,
usually in with high-poverty areas). A smaller early-reading program was for 3-5
year-olds in disadvantaged areas to read.
6. Funding Changes: school districts with high concentrations of poor children
received the most Title 1 funding.
NCLB is, however, failing. Students are not being educated to their full potential, school
finding is low, and the public education system is in flux. In 2012, states were able to get
flexibility on specific requirements of NCLB in exchange for state-developed plans. 42
states, DC and Puerto Rico have received flexibility from NCLB.
Source: http://www.ed.gov/