The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) was initially enacted in 1965 (P.L. 89-10). Since then, there have been 13 major reauthorizations of the ESEA, with the most recent reauthorization occurring in 2015 with the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA, P.L. 114-95). This report provides information on the votes taken in the House and Senate in the committees of jurisdiction and on the House and Senate floors prior to and following conference proceedings for the ESEA of 1965 and subsequent major reauthorizations.
The report also provides vote information on comprehensive ESEA reauthorization bills that were considered in the committees of jurisdiction or on the House or Senate floors following the enactment of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB; P.L. 107-110) but prior to the consideration of the ESSA. During the 112th and 113th Congresses, both committees with jurisdiction over the ESEA ordered ESEA reauthorization bills to be reported. In the 113th Congress, an ESEA reauthorization bill was considered on the House floor.
The Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) was initially enacted in 1965 (P.L. 89-10). Since then, there have been 13 major reauthorizations of the ESEA, with the most recent reauthorization occurring in 2015 with the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA, P.L. 114-95). This report provides information on the votes taken in the House and Senate in the committees of jurisdiction and on the House and Senate floors prior to and following conference proceedings for the ESEA of 1965 and subsequent major reauthorizations. An overall vote count and the votes by party affiliation are provided for each bill when available. The report also provides vote information on comprehensive ESEA reauthorization bills that were been considered in the 112th and 113th Congresses but were not enacted into law.
More specifically, Table 1 provides information on vote counts for the committee bills and bills considered on the House and Senate floors prior to and following conference for the original ESEA and each major reauthorization of the law by amendment. It includes both the overall vote counts, as well as vote counts by party affiliation when possible. With respect to committee votes, however, there are no databases that compile votes taken in committee, nor are committee votes included in the Daily Digest of the Congressional Record.1 Therefore, committee votes have been provided only to the extent that they were readily available. In most cases, if committee vote information was available, it was not readily available by party affiliation. No comprehensive ESEA reauthorization bills were considered by the committees of jurisdiction or on the House or Senate floors during the 108th through the 111th Congresses. Table 2, however, provides information on vote counts from the 112th and 113th Congresses, as both committees of jurisdiction ordered ESEA reauthorization bills to be reported. In the 113th Congress, an ESEA reauthorization bill was considered on the House floor. Action by the committees of jurisdiction related to the reauthorization of the ESEA during the 114th Congress is reflected on Table 1.
As depicted in Table 1, a relatively wide or narrow margin of overall approval for a particular bill may mask the support or lack thereof for a given bill by party affiliation. In some cases, a particular bill may have garnered substantially more support from one party than another, but in other cases, there may have been similar levels of support or dissension in both parties regarding the bill.
Table 1. House and Senate Votes on Committee and Floor Bills and Conference Reports for the Original ESEA Bill and Subsequent Major ESEA Reauthorizations Bills
|
Act Title |
Public Law Number |
Year Enacted |
House Committee Votes on Relevant ESEA Bill |
House Floor Votes on Relevant ESEA Bill Prior to Conference |
House Votes on Conference Report |
Senate Committee Votes on Relevant ESEA Bill |
Senate Floor Votes on Relevant ESEA Bill Prior to Conference |
Senate Votes on Conference Report |
|
Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 |
P.L. 89-10 |
1965 |
H.R. 2362 23-8 |
H.R. 2362 263-153 R: 35-96 D: 228-57 |
None |
H.R. 2362 Not available |
H.R. 2362 73-18 R: 18-14 D: 55-4 |
None |
|
Elementary and Secondary Education Amendments of 1966 |
P.L. 89-750 |
1966 |
H.R. 13161 Not available |
H.R. 13161 237-97 R: 47-59 D: 190-38 |
H.R. 13161 185-76 R: 41-47 D: 144-29 |
S. 3046 Not available |
S. 3046 54-16 R. 13-8 D: 41-8 —————— Substituted S. 3046 with one amendment and passed as H.R. 13161 Passed by voice vote |
H.R. 13161 Passed by voice vote |
|
Elementary and Secondary Education Act Amendments of 1967 |
P.L. 90-247 |
1968 |
H.R. 7819 Not available |
H.R. 7819 294-122 R: 99-80 D: 195-42 |
H.R. 7819 286-73 R: 121-37 D: 165-36 |
H.R. 7819 Not available |
H.R. 7819 71-7 R: 23-1 D: 48-6 |
H.R. 7819 63-3 R: 24-1 D: 39-2 |
|
Elementary and Secondary Education Act Amendments of 1970 |
P.L. 91-230 |
1970 |
H.R. 514 21-13 |
H.R. 514 400-17 R: 175-8 D: 225-9 |
H.R. 514 312-58 R: 141-17 D: 171-41 |
H.R. 514 Not available |
H.R. 514 80-0 R: 35-0 D: 45-0 |
H.R. 514 74-4 R: 35-0 D: 39-4 |
|
Education Amendments of 1972 |
P.L. 92-318 |
1972 |
H.R. 7248 35-1 |
H.R. 7248 332-38 R: 128-24 D: 204-14 —————— Substituted H.R. 7248 for S. 659 Passed by voice vote |
S. 659 218-180 R: 89-76 D: 129-104 |
S. 659 17-0 |
S. 659 51-0 R: 26-0 D: 25-0 —————— S. 659 (new session of Congress) 88-6 R: 39-3 D: 49-3 |
S. 659 63-15 R: 30-5 D: 33-10 |
|
Education Amendments of 1974 |
1974 |
380-26 R: 162-15 D: 218-11 |
323-83 R: 136-47 D: 187-36 |
16-0 |
81-5 R: 31-5 D: 50-0 |
81-15 R: 28-11 D: 53-4 |
||
|
Education Amendments of 1978 |
1978 |
36-0 |
350-20 R: 110-14 D: 240-6 |
349-18 R: 113-13 D: 236-5 |
14-0 |
H.R. 15, as amended, passed in lieu of S. 1753 86-7 R: 30-5 D: 56-2 (The Senate did not vote on S. 1753) |
Passed by voice vote |
|
|
Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1981 |
P.L. 97-35a |
1981 |
Passed by voice vote |
232-193 Not available |
Passed by unanimous consent |
19-0 |
80-15 R: Not available D: Not available —————— H.R. 3982, as amended, passed in lieu of S. 1377 Passed by voice vote |
80-14 R: 49-1 D: 30-13 I: 1-0 |
|
Education Consolidation and Improvement Act Technical Amendments of 1983 |
P.L. 98-211 |
1983 |
Passed by voice vote |
Passed by voice vote |
Passed by voice vote |
Passed by unanimous consent |
Passed by voice vote |
Passed by voice vote |
|
Education Amendments of 1984 |
P.L. 98-511 |
1984 |
Discharged by motion |
Passed by voice vote |
Passed by voice vote |
Passed by unanimous consent |
Passed by voice vote |
Passed by voice vote |
|
Augustus F. Hawkins-Robert T. Stafford Elementary and Secondary School Improvement Amendments of 1988 |
P.L. 100-297 |
1988 |
Passed by voice vote |
401-1 R: 167-1 D: 234-0 |
397-1 R: 168-1 D: 229-0 |
Not available —————— H.R. 5 16-0 |
H.R. 5, as amended, passed in lieu of S. 373 97-1 R: 45-1 D: 52-0 (S. 373 was indefinitely postponed by the Senate by unanimous consent.) |
Passed by voice vote |
|
Improving America's Schools Act of 1994 |
P.L. 103-382 |
1994 |
29-14 |
289-128 R: 45-124 D: 234-4 I: 1-0 |
262-132 R: 31-128 D: 230-4 I: 1-0 |
Not available —————— H.R. 6 Passed by unanimous consent |
H.R. 6, as amended, passed in lieu of S. 1513 94-6 R: 38-6 D: 56-0 (S. 1513 was indefinitely postponed by the Senate by unanimous consent.) |
77-20 R: 23-20 D: 54-0 |
|
No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 |
P.L. 107-110 |
2002 |
41-7 R: 21-6 D: 20-1 |
384-45 R: 186-34 D: 197-10 I: 1-1 |
381-41 R: 183-33 D: 198-6 I: 0-2 |
20-0 |
H.R. 1, as amended, passed in lieu of S. 1 91-8 R: 47-2 D: 43-6 I: 1-0 (S. 1 was returned to calendar and not considered by the Senate.) |
87-10 R: 44-3 D: 43-6 I: 0-1 |
|
Every Student Succeeds Act |
2015 |
21-16 R: 21-0 D: 0-16 |
218-213 R: 218-27 D: 0-186 |
S. 1177, as amended, passed in lieu of H.R. 5 359-64 R: 178-64 D: 181-0 |
22-0 R: 12-0 D: 9-0 I: 1-0 |
81-17 R: 39-14 D: 40-3 I: 2-0 |
85-12 R: 40-12 D: 44-0 I: 1-0 |
Source: Table prepared by the Congressional Research Service (CRS), February 8, 2016, based on an analysis of relevant vote information available from the Legislative Information Service; Congressional Quarterly Almanacs, various years; Congressional Quarterly Congress Collection, various years; CQ Markup Report; Hein Online Congressional Record; and Lexis Nexis Congressional.
Notes:
D: Democrat
I: Independent
R: Republican
a. Title V of P.L. 97-35 was the Omnibus Education Reconciliation Act of 1981.
Table 2. House and Senate Votes on Committee and Floor Bills to Reauthorize the Elementary and Secondary Education Act During the 112th and 113th Congresses
|
Act Title |
Congress and Bill Number |
House Committee Vote |
House Floor Vote |
Senate Committee Vote |
Senate Floor Vote |
|
Elementary and Secondary Reauthorization Act of 2011 |
112th Congress, |
Not applicable |
Not applicable |
15-7 R: 3-7 D: 11-0 I: 1-0 |
Not applicable |
|
Student Success Act |
112th Congress, |
23-16 R: 23-0 D: 0-16 |
Not applicable |
Not applicable |
Not applicable |
|
Encouraging Innovation and Effective Teachers Act |
112th Congress, |
23-16 R: 23-0 D: 0-16 |
Not applicable |
Not applicable |
Not applicable |
|
Strengthening America's Schools Act |
113th Congress, |
Not applicable |
Not applicable |
12-10 R: 0-10 D: 11-0 I: 1-0 |
Not applicable |
|
Success for All Students Act |
113th Congress, |
23-16 R: 23-0 D: 0-16 |
221-207 R: 221-12 D: 0-195 |
Not applicable |
Not applicable |
Source: Table prepared by the Congressional Research Service (CRS), October 7, 2014, based on S. Rept. 112-221, H. Rept. 112-458, H.Rept. 112-459 Part 1, and CRS observation of the relevant committee markups for the 112th Congress; and based on S. Rept. 113-113, H. Rept. 113-150, and Roll Call vote 374 in the House, and CRS observation of the relevant committee markups for the 113th Congress.
Notes:
D: Democrat
R: Republican
Author Contact Information
| 1. |
Legislative Information System, Congressional Research Service, Best Practices for Finding Committee Votes, http://www.congress.gov/help/BestPractices/VotesInCommittee.html. |