Title I Background & Purpose

Title I is the largest federally funded program in education, signed into law in 1965.

Four men discussing the Title I law with President Lyndon Johnson

President Lyndon Johnson recognized the extreme difficulties children were having learning to read and to perform mathematics. In an effort to help the struggling children catch up, extra attention, materials, and teachers were provided by the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), Title I. The reauthorization of ESEA,  the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001, was signed into law by President Bush on January 8, 2002. Its purpose and the purpose of Title I is to ensure that historically underprivileged children have a fair, equitable, and significant opportunity to obtain a high-quality education and to reach, at a minimum, proficiency on challenging state academic standards and assessments.