<P> The OEO reflected a fragile consensus among policymakers that the best way to deal with poverty was not simply to raise the incomes of the poor but to help them better themselves through education, job training, and community development . Central to its mission was the idea of "community action", the participation of the poor in framing and administering the programs designed to help them . </P> <P> The War on Poverty began with a $1 billion appropriation in 1964 and spent another $2 billion in the following two years . It gave rise to dozens of programs, among them the Job Corps, whose purpose was to help disadvantaged youth develop marketable skills; the Neighborhood Youth Corps, established to give poor urban youths work experience and to encourage them to stay in school; Volunteers in Service to America (VISTA), a domestic version of the Peace Corps, which placed concerned citizens with community - based agencies to work towards empowerment of the poor; the Model Cities Program for urban redevelopment; Upward Bound, which assisted poor high school students entering college; legal services for the poor; and the Food Stamp Act of 1964 (which expanded the federal food stamp program). </P> <P> Programs included the Community Action Program, which initiated local Community Action Agencies charged with helping the poor become self - sufficient; and Project Head Start, which offered preschool education for poor children . In addition, funding was provided for the establishment of community health centers to expand access to health care, while major amendments were made to Social Security in 1965 and 1967 which significantly increased benefits, expanded coverage, and established new programs to combat poverty and raise living standards . In addition, average AFDC payments were 35% higher in 1968 than in 1960, but remained insufficient and uneven . </P> <P> The most important educational component of the Great Society was the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, designed by Commissioner of Education Francis Keppel . It was signed into law on April 11, 1965, less than three months after it was introduced . It ended a long - standing political taboo by providing significant federal aid to public education, initially allocating more than $1 billion to help schools purchase materials and start special education programs to schools with a high concentration of low - income children . During its first year of operation, the Act authorized a $1.1 billion program of grants to states, for allocations to school districts with large numbers of children of low income families, funds to use community facilities for education within the entire community, funds to improve educational research and to strengthen state departments of education, and grants for purchase of books and library materials . The Act also established Head Start, which had originally been started by the Office of Economic Opportunity as an eight - week summer program, as a permanent program . </P>

What is the role of government in building the great society