A NATIONAL GOAL OF FULL EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITY" FOR EVERY CHILD -- President Johnson's "Education Program" Message to Congress, January 12, 1965

Educational Research and Training (Title IV)

With the goal of stimulating sound research for improvement of educational opportunities in all schools and establishing a national network of Federally-supported, but State and university-operated cooperative research centers, Title IV would expand existing programs of educational research and would permit the establishment and full development of regional educational laboratories.

Over the last decade there have been dramatic developments in educational research; recent progress in the psychology of thinking, learning, and motivation has contributed much to the knowledge of how pupils move to higher levels of understanding. Based on the results of this research, new theories of instruction have been tried out in some schools.

These experimental programs with their limited applications of basic research point to the potential for improving education in this new age of learning. The Title IV provisions for an inter-disciplinary attack on problems of educational research gives America a new stategy for meeting the challenges imposed by social and economic changes, compounded by the vast increase of knowledge.

Education, in terms of size, impact, and investment, is this Nation's most basic enterprise. Expenditures for this purpose total about $34 billion a year. Yet, of every $1,000 spent in Federal funds for research and development in 1964, only $3.50 went to education. A total of $16 million is being spent in FY 1965 on cooperative research. Only $72 million--less than two-fifths of one percent of the Nation's total educational outlay--is now spent on all educational research and development. In contrast, about $8 billion a year is spent for research and development on the Nation's defenses. And many progressive private industries invest as much as ten percent of their total annual expenditures for research and development.

The new legislation would reduce this gap. Over a five-year period, $100 million is authorized for educational research, including construction and operation of large-scale National and regional research laboratories in which the most advanced educational techniques and curricula could be tested, training of research personnel, improving dissemination of developments in educational research for application to classroom situations, and training teachers in the use of technological innovations in education. Private research organizations and professional associations may also be employed in these efforts.

For FY 1966, $45 million would be allocated to construction and equipment of some 10 to 15 regional educational laboratories and to research, development, dissemination of research results, and training. An additional $25 million would be available for research and related purposes under the Cooperative Research Act (P.L. 83-531), providing essential links between research laboratories and the classroom.

Strengthening State Departments of Education (Title V)

To meet expanding national needs in education, while assuring that education remains a matter of State and local responsibility, Congress has provided grants to strengthen State departments of education and to stimulate them in the development of programs for identifying and meeting educational needs.

Title V provides funds for programs and activities that are basic to the implementation of the other provisions of the Act. With the costs of education already a big and growing item in State budgets, many States would not be able to carry out the programs provided under other titles of the Act without some provision for improving the administrative ability and strengthening the educational leadership, planning, and coordination capacities of the State agencies.

State departments of education occupy a strategic position in the structure of American education. Not only does a State department serve as the instrument of the State to improve education throughout the State, but also it assists and cooperates with the Federal Government in meeting the national interest in the State. It is, thus, a prime factor in developing both the policies which are based upon internal needs and the nationwide policies which need to be implemented within the State. Together, Federal, State, and local governments can attack and solve problems that none can solve alone.

For FY 1966, Title V authorizes an appropriation of $25 million; 85 percent of the funds would be distributed to the States. Allotments would be made on the basis of a flat grant of $100,000 to each State and an additional amount based on the number of public school pupils within the State. To obtain grants, States would submit applications through their State departments of education for endorsement and forwarding for approval to the Commissioner of Education. Table 1 shows tentative allocations to States for FY 1966.

The remaining 15 percent of the funds would be reserved for distribution by the Commissioner of Education for special grants to individual State educational agencies to pay part of the cost of experimental projects for developing State leadership and for providing special services which would help solve problems common to all or several States.

Another provision of Title V deals with the interchange of personnel between the U.S. Office of Education and the States. This new concept of cooperation and effective communication will help State officials become more acutely aware of the national significance and importance of the educational programs they are conducting. It will also provide the Office of Education greater insight into the specific types of problems existing within the States and the appropriate means for their solution. Title V provides also for the appointment of a 12-member advisory council on State departments of education, with responsibility for reviewing the administrations of programs under this title and recommending improvements. The report and recommendations of the Council are to be made to the Secretary by March 31, 1969, for subsequent transmission to the President and to the Congress.

*Amount in the President's budget for proposed legislation to expand assistance to colleges and to college students. **Expenditures authorized under P. L. 89-10.

Source: U. S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, Office of Education

SELECTED REFERENCES

89th CONGRESS, 1st Session

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

Committee on Education and Labor

Hearings on H. R. 2361 and H. R. 2362, Aid to Elementary and Secondary Education, Part 1 (January 22-27, 1965) and Part 2 (January 28-February 2, 1965). 2128 p.

House Report No. 143 on H. R. 2362. March 8, 1965. 80 p.

U.S. SENATE

Committee on Labor and Public Welfare Subcomittee on Education. Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965--Background Material with Related Presidential Recommendations. Committee Print. January 26, 1965. 212 p.

Hearings on S. 370, Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, Parts 1-6. January 26-February 1, 1965. 3,298 p.

Senate Report No. 146 on H. R. 2362. April 6, 1965. 88 p.

Public Law 89-10, the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. April 11, 1965. 32 p.