Have we been a Great Society?

Have we been a Great Society?

In Education Week, Sarah Sparks examines the legacy and outcomes of Lyndon Johnson's War on Poverty, 50 years later. The campaign ushered in Medicaid; community health centers and school immunization and screening; predecessors to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program and Section 8 housing vouchers; and Head Start and the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, among others. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 16 million children under 18 -- 23 percent of all American youth -- lived in poverty in 1964. Child poverty dropped precipitously through the 1960s and '70s, then rose, dropped, and rose again. By 2012, 16 million children lived in poverty, 22 percent of all American kids -- little change. Yet analysis by Columbia University finds that without Great Society-related government supports like housing aid, food stamps, and school meals, the proportion of Americans in poverty in 2012 would have been 31 percent. The proportion of Americans in deep poverty -- living on less than half the federal poverty line -- would have more than tripled. Still, social mobility has stagnated and achievement gaps between wealthy and poor children remain wide. As policymakers consider the next steps -- including reauthorization of many laws born of the War on Poverty -- many urge consistent support and sensible accountability: both, not one or the other.  More

Source:  Public Education News Blast

Published by LEAP

Los Angeles Education Partnership (LAEP) is an education support organization that works as a collaborative partner in high-poverty communities.

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