Equitable Services for Private School Students and Staff and the Elementary and Secondary Education Act. CRS Report R46907, Version 1

Congressional Research Service. Web site: https://crsreports.congress.gov/

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46

Policymakers

Equal Education; Court Litigation; Educational Legislation; Elementary Secondary Education; Federal Legislation; Private Schools; Disadvantaged; Educational History; Role of Education; Federal Aid; School Desegregation; Students with Disabilities; Federal Programs; Natural Disasters; COVID-19; Pandemics; Public Schools; Services; Expenditures; School Districts; Higher Education

Individuals with Disabilities Education Act; Elementary and Secondary Education Act Title I; Coronavirus Aid Relief and Economic Security Act 2020

Since the enactment of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA, P.L. 89-10, as amended) in 1965, the major programs of aid to elementary and secondary education authorized under it have sought to provide for the equitable participation of eligible students enrolled in both public and private elementary and secondary schools. This is particularly true of the largest federal elementary and secondary aid program, Education for the Disadvantaged, authorized by ESEA Title I, Part A and commonly referred to as the Title I-A program. This report begins by examining the history of the ESEA equitable services provisions. It discusses the role of public and private elementary and secondary education in the mid-1960s and proposals for federal aid to elementary and secondary schools prior to 1965. It then discusses the initial enactment of the ESEA, with a focus on federal involvement in elementary and secondary education, school desegregation matters, and private schools. Next, the report considers the implementation of equitable services provisions from 1965 through 1997, which includes an overview of two Supreme Court decisions that affected the delivery of equitable services. The next section of the report examines current equitable services provisions included in the ESEA. The ESEA includes two major sets of equitable services provisions--one in Title I-A and one in Title VIII-F-1. The report discusses both sets of provisions and highlights the similarities and differences between them. It then discusses whether the provision of equitable services constitutes aid to private schools and other ESEA provisions that apply specifically to private schools. This is followed by a discussion of the inclusion of equitable services provisions in non-ESEA programs, specifically with respect to the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), in federal education programs enacted following the Gulf Coast hurricanes in 2005, and in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The report concludes with consideration of selected issues related to the provision of equitable services. [Wayne Riddle co-authored this report.]

ERIC

2022

ED617478