Lyndon B. Johnson

Each year more than 100,000 high school graduates, with proved ability, do not enter college because they cannot afford it. And if we cannot educate today’s youth, what will we do in 1970 when elementary enrollment will be 5 million greater than 1960? And high school enrollment will rise by 5 million. College enrollment will increase by more than 3 million.

It is a truism that education is no longer a luxury. Education in this day and age is a necessity.

You do not examine legislation in the light of the benefits it will convey if properly administered, but in the light of the wrongs it would do and the harms it would cause if improperly administered.

We believe, that is, you and I, that education is not an expense. We believe it is an investment.

Every man, everywhere, should be free to develop his talents to their full potential – unhampered by arbitrary barriers of race or birth or income.

Education is the key to opportunity in our society, and the equality of educational opportunity must be the birthright of every citizen.