Page "Great Society" Paragraph 23

The most important educational component of the Great Society was the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, designed by Commissioner of Education Francis Keppel.

It was signed into law on April 11, 1965, less than three months after it was introduced.

It ended a long-standing political taboo by providing significant federal aid to public education, initially allotting more than $ 1 billion to help schools purchase materials and start special education programs to schools with a high concentration of low-income children.

The Act established Head Start, which had originally been started by the Office of Economic Opportunity as an eight-week summer program, as a permanent program.