Reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act

The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) was first enacted in 1965 and has been reauthorized every 5–10 years since then. The latest iteration of ESEA is the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), which was signed into law in January 2002. The latest scheduled reauthorization of ESEA was in 2007. The House Education and Labor Committee created a draft for reauthorization, but it never moved through committee. Reauthorization is still pending.

ESEA authorizes all of the major K-12 education programs that support low-income schools and fund out-of-school time, and the framework for accountability that seeks to drive continuous improvement of all schools. Included are programs such as Title I, 21st Century Community Learning Centers (21st CCLC), Supplemental Education Services (SES) and Safe and Drug-Free Schools.

While the program details and rules are determined through the ESEA reauthorization process, funding for any programs included in ESEA is determined each year through a separate appropriations process.

On March 15, 2010, President Obama released, “A Blueprint for Reform: The Reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.” Currently, the House Education and Labor Committee, chaired by Congressman George Miller (D-CA), and the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, chaired by Senator Tom Harkin (D-IA), are considering ESEA reauthorization.

• Read more about the Elementary and Secondary Education Act >>
• Learn more about the Blueprint for Reform >>

our role in ESEA Reauthorization

In 2007, Partnership for Children and Youth brought together a group of California colleagues to develop recommendations to improve the 21st Century Community Learning Centers program in the ESEA reauthorization.  We made substantial headway and several of our recommendations made it into the first House draft before the reauthorization process stalled.

In the fall of 2009, the Partnership organized a federal issues subcommittee of the California Afterschool Advocacy Alliance, a coalition of the state’s leading advocates and providers, to update and improve the ESEA recommendations we had developed in 2007. 

Now, in 2010, the Partnership is proud to be uniquely positioned as an advisor to Representative George Miller, Chairman of the House Education and Labor Committee, with regard to the development of his out-of-school-time and expanded day policies in the reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act.