Blog B- Economic Opportunity Act

The Economic Opportunity Act was created in 1964 to combat the poverty found in America. At this time, the US economy had surpassed anything seen before. The country was more wealthy than ever before and yet there was a huge gap between the rich and the poor and there were still many people left behind, continuing to live in the cycle of poverty because, without better opportunities for education and training, people cannot break out of that cycle. President Lyndon Johnson created this act as part of his program called the Great Society, which was geared to get rid of the gap between the rich and poor. Johnson believed that in order to make the US better economically and socially, each individual should have the opportunity to get out of the poverty cycle. To do this, Johnson believed in giving everyone the opportunity to learn and educate themselves. The Economic Opportunity Act gave people the opportunity to educate themselves, to get the training needed for better paying jobs, and to live a better life than they previously would have.

In fact, the Economic Opportunity Act had several programs that were included such as the Job Corps, which provided education and work for young people, ages 16 to age 21. Also created was the Neighborhood Youth Corps, which also gave jobs to young adults from poverty stricken districts. The Economic Opportunity Act also started the Work Study program, which is still being used today. This gave money to colleges so that students how came from families with very little money could get jobs, which gave them money to spend on books and stuff that they might need. Another thing that was created was the Adult Basic Education, which gave money to state education agencies so that people who are 18 or older could learn how to read and learn other things that are necessary for jobs. This enabled people who were not able to go to school or who did not pass high school training to get help so that they could get a job that would pay well. Yet another program was the Assistance for Migrant Agricultural Employees, which provided migratory workers and their families with housing, job opportunities, and education programs.

Later on, when the act was revised, the Economic Opportunity Act created the Head Start program. The Head Start program was created to help children become successful in public schools. It created kindergarten, infant programs, and nursery school in order to get the children ready for school and prepared for school.

The Economic Opportunity Act has done so much for education and has led to everyone having an equal opportunity to learn and grow in school. It has given so many programs to society that around to this day, in order to make education a tool for everyone.

Web Sites Used

http://www.britannica.com/eb/article-47676/history-of-education#303320.hook
http://faculty.virginia.edu/sixties/readings/War%20on%20Poverty%20entry%20Poverty%20Encyclopedia.pdf
http://cascades.jobcorps.gov/WhatandHowToJC.html
http://jschell.myweb.uga.edu/history/legis/econ.htm
http://wps.prenhall.com/wps/media/objects/751/769950/Documents_Library/eoa1964.htm
http://www.nascc.org/PDFs/AbtAssociates-Feb1997.pdf
http://www.questia.com/library/education/head-start.jsp
http://www.naepdc.org/issues/AEAHistort.htm
http://ug-finaid.northwestern.edu/work-study/information/program.html